Prohibition: Bootlegging and the Rise of Organized Crime

Illicit suppliers immediately replaced the formerly legitimate sources, bringing in Caribbean rum through Florida, Canadian whiskey across the northern border, and higher-priced Scotch whisky and Irish whiskey and European wines onto the Atlantic beaches. Called both bootleggers and rumrunners, these smugglers risked arrest in pursuit of high profits. Domestically, beer production often continued in ethnic neighborhoods and was sold to local residents by the bucket. Rural grain-producing areas also contributed to the alcohol supply by distilling and selling their crude but potent “moonshine.” The sheer volume of illicit importation and sale of alcohol overwhelmed enforcement agencies, which were often understaffed and poorly funded. To upgrade enforcement, the federal government established the Prohibition Bureau as an agency of the Treasury Department and ordered the Coast Guard to apprehend smugglers. Despite these best efforts, however, violators far outnumbered the enforcers, and alcohol flowed into the United States unabated.