Dozens caught (and parents called) after college alcohol sting

By Anne Baker, Globe Correspondent

Dozens of underage drinkers didn't get the good time they were looking for after a trip to liquor stores over the weekend in Boston. Instead, they were confronted by state investigators who called their colleges -- and their parents.

Through its Operation Safe Campus program, the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission (ABCC) estimates it prevented hundreds of students from obtaining alcohol, said Ted Mahony, chief investigator for the ABCC.

"Our objective is to prevent [underage freshmen] from obtaining that alcohol,” he said. “We want to prevent some of the tragedies we see.”

The drinking age in Massachusetts is 21, meaning many students will spend most of their college careers without being able to drink legally. ABCC investigators acted as store clerks at two liquor stores where they suspected underage drinkers would try to obtain alcohol.

On Sept. 4, they found 56 minors in possession of alcohol, 33 people who bought or attempted to buy alcohol for minors, and six people with fake identification. The investigators also confiscated 48 cases of beer and 22 bottles of other kinds of alcoholic beverages.

The ABCC estimates that it prevented a total of 400 students from obtaining alcohol, Mahony said.

Mahony said the students attended a number of local institutions, including Newbury College, Lesley University, Boston University, Boston College, Suffolk University, Northeastern University, and Emerson College.

“They really are good kids. They’re just a little clueless as to the damage they can do to themselves or somebody else,” he said.

The sting, which the agency does every year as school begins, took place at Blanchard’s at Brighton Avenue and Harvard Street and at Reservoir Liquors in Cleveland Circle. Mahony said the stores had assisted the investigators.

“They were very cooperative and try to do a good job,” he said.

The vast majority of those students caught will not face legal action, Mahoney said, because past experience has led the commission to believe it is more effective to contact students’ schools and parents.

“We found that it’s far more effective to have an immediate contact with the young person’s parents, let them know they were drinking alcohol,” he said. “That allows the parents to speak about this issue with their kids.”

People who are over the age of 21 and bought or attempted to buy alcohol for minors will likely face criminal complaints, Mahony said.

"I am proud of the work done by the ABCC investigators," Treasurer Tim Cahill, who oversees the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission, said in a statement. "By preventing alcohol from getting into the hands of underage individuals, we are preventing tragedy before it strikes."

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