Authorities in North Carolina seized 929 gallons of moonshine on Wednesday. That is 118 912 fluid ounces of liquor taken off our city streets. They also seized a large amount of sugar. The clandestine moonshine lab has been shut down.
President Obama won the Nobel peace prize. Let's hope he ends the drug war.
A journalist who embedded with the Colombian military says the guerilla war in that country is not winnable. He makes the statement around the five minute mark of this CNN video. The entire ten minute segment is quite interesting as it focuses on the global drug war (hat tip to CAP).
This is off-topic, but libertarians will enjoy it: a Canadian team (who are also fans of the LEAP blog) has entered a worldwide video contest organized by the Fraser Institute. The topic is, "What is the Appropriate Role of Government in the Economy?" Here is their video on YouTube.
Australian journliast Alan Howe has a column about Elvis Presley, Norm Stamper and drug policy.
They also seized a large amount of sugar.
ReplyDeleteGood to see the DEA taking sugar off our streets! ;-) But the article doesn't say if this was "crystal" sugar, or "powder" sugar or what?! ;-)
Hey that's funny that you wrote that six months ago... I guess humor imitates reality (or vice versa).
ReplyDeleteYeah, the whole moonshine thing is kind of a weird story, and I know that I sort of made fun of it, but I think that law enforcement did a good job.
I don't know the situation in North Carolina, but the only reason I can think that someone would be making moonshine in this day and age is to sell it to underage kids. And obviously they are not paying taxes on those sales. And 929 gallons is a substantial amount (I think it would be hard to argue it's for "personal use"!).
This is a good example of how you can regulate a substance and yet still have an important role for law enforcement.
the only reason I can think that someone would be making moonshine in this day and age is to sell it to underage kids
ReplyDeletePerhaps. My guess would be to sell it to whoever; I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and say adults. My guess is it's easier to have a sustainable model by selling to willing (and quiet) adults. Selling to kids is sure to raise suspicion sooner rather than later. Just an educated guess.
One has to wonder about their still. Seems to me that old fashioned stills were made from copper; the price for copper has gone through the roof! So I wonder if they had a new non-copper still. In either case, I bet it was a significant $ blow to loose it.
Maybe they were makin' hooch to power their NASCARs. ;-)
"...the only reason I can think that someone would be making moonshine in this day and age is to sell it to underage kids."
ReplyDeleteMoonshiners produce whiskey for as little as $3 a gallon, then package it in six-packs of gallon plastic jugs, a thicker-gauge variation of milk containers, and sell it, unlabeled, for $10 or $12 a gallon to nip joints, shot houses and the back rooms of bars in Philadelphia, Richmond, Washington and Baltimore. The bars then sell it for as little as $1 a shot, much less than the price of lawful whiskey.
Because the use of moonshine is a very small social problem, ATF views busts like his as largely a waste of resources. This is what I imagine a world with re-legalized use of drugs would be like.