Friday, October 9, 2009

Biggest moonshine bust in memory

This photograph showing stacks of Mason jars filled with illegal homemade liquor was taken after N.C. Alcohol Law Enforcement agents seized 929 gallons of moonshine this week in Wilkesboro, officials say.


Wilkes County man Roger Lee Nance was charged with possession of non-tax paid liquor, possession of non-tax paid liquor for the purpose of sale and possession of equipment and ingredients intended for the use in the manufacture of an alcoholic beverage, according to a state news release.

“This is one of the biggest seizures of white liquor I’ve seen come out of the mountains in my career,” ALE Director John Ledford said.

The Department of Crime Control and Public Safety spokesperson who sent Paper Trail the photo also forwarded a statement saying the arrest follows a two-month investigation by ALE agents with assistance from the State Highway Patrol.

Deputies from the Wilkes County Sheriff’s Office assisted in executing the search warrant Wednesday, the statement says. In addition to the liquor, large amounts of sugar and other items were seized during a search of the property.

Jule Hubbard of the Wilkes Journal-Patriot newspaper adds these details:

"The moonshine was mostly in glass quart jars, but part of it was in 20-liter plastic containers, he said. Most of the jars of non-tax paid liquor also contained peaches, strawberries or other fruit, [ALE agent Bobby] Crumpler added.

This adds flavor to the illegal product. He said the moonshine was found stacked in the trailer from a tractor-trailer truck. The trailer, which was locked, was beside a garage near Nance's residence, said Crumpler.

The illegal liquor still or stills that produced the moonshine wasn't located, he added. Crumpler said 344 five-pound bags and 101 50-pound bags of sugar were seized, as well as a box of powder Kool-Aid mix. He said a GMC pickup, two copper condensers, and 864 empty one-quart glass jars were also seized."

- Doug Miller

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

well...there goes my christmas...and hillbilly needs to quit "crackin" on the shine....let go of that malt for a little while

Kool Aid Man said...

"Crumpler said 344 five-pound bags and 101 50-pound bags of sugar were seized, as well as a box of powder Kool-Aid mix"

That ironically is the same recipe I use for Kool-Aid!

Oh Yeah!

Anonymous said...

well, I know this wasn't anyone in my family... no one in my family would have gotten caught! lol
Plus everyone knows you can't put the good shine in plastic... it will eat through it! So surely this wasn't good stuff anyway.

Anonymous said...

I know it is still a crime but mooshine. Not heroin, ecstasy methamphetamine, cocaine or even marihuana just old fashioned moonshine. How quaint. If it wasn't for the flavoring he could just say he was trying to run his car

Anonymous said...

This is a great victory by our local law enforcement groups. It is extremely important to spend their resources to catch desperate criminals making moonshine. To hell with catching drug runners, home invaders, bank robbers etc.

Anonymous said...

What a waste of resources. Why don't you go arrest the tax evaders in our government and then I might have some respect for the law on this type bust.

Wade said...

This world is full of decadent immoral people! We must stop this moonshine at all costs! Now, if the man paid tax on the moonshine, then go right ahead, your fine by me. [end sarcasm]

Seriously, the only reason why the government cares is because the booze isn't taxed. If I don't sell my homemade concoction, it is legal. But if I make money off it, oh the humanity!

(P.S. You need to try some homemade vodka one day. Makes the stuff you see in the store appear weak.)

Anonymous said...

Wow, we can all sleep sound tonight. What a waste of taxpayer's money. Go catch some real criminals.

Maggie said...

I agree with most of the comments here, i.e., that law enforcement should reset their priorities according to severity and threat to the community. Moonshine ain't it ......

Anonymous said...

Wade - while I agree that they only care because of the money - you are incorrect in that it is legal if you don't sell it.

A very basic summary - you can't artificially increase the alcoholic content of a beverage for personal consumption either. i.e. distill, freeze, etc.

So you can take yeast and a sugar solution to make alcohol (100 gallons/year per 21 year old person in the house - up to 200 gallons). Beer - Malt and Water, Wine - Fruit Juice, Gross - Table Sugar and Water, etc, etc.

Anonymous said...

Does yo mamma got a pressure cooker - the kind used for canning? Got yourself 5-6 feet of 1/4-inch copper tubing you can coil w/o kinking it? Heck, Jethro, you've already got the hard parts: The "cook-off" tools for processing what comes OUT of a still ...

Ferment some sour mash corn with sugar and water in a big plastic trash bag- lined tub, transfer it (siphon it off) to the pressure cooker a batch at a time and GENTLY heat it to draw off the "vapor" (do NOT rolling-boil the liquid or else you evaporate the alcohol!), then condense it thru the coiled copper tube - NO SOLDER JOINTS ANYWHERE!!! - and you have "hootch".

ANY idiot that didn't fall asleep in high school chemistry and 2 minutes surfing the 'Net ... and the transparency of how to make distilled spirits is as plain as the nose on your face ...

WARNING: You can probably get away with making as much home-brewed beer as you can imagine - same with home-made wine - but if you *distill* so much as a tea-cup of "white lightning" - or even have the "equipment" to do so that isn't normally a part of a well-stocked kitchen - someone will not just come a-knockin' at your door ... They'll kick it in!!!!

Anonymous said...

Great, now the ALE can justify the 120 AR15's they bought with taxpayer funds. What a waste.

Anonymous said...

You obviously have never seen what moonshine does to people. Blindness, death, and just plain old drunkeness off of cheap, potent alcohol.

Anonymous said...

The only reason that moonshine is still illegal is because it is sold outside the 'regulated' market and the greedy hand of the state can't get their hands on the tax revenue.

Anonymous said...

Man uncle bob got caught again...i told him to make sure he paid off the feds, you see its a little bit of protection money and the association to the crime that keeps it going...with the likes in the white house these days more and more of my kin are doing this for all sorts of reasons...

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Anonymous said...

keep up the good work all you shiner

Dan_Nance said...

You're welcome

Dan_Nance said...

Sounds like judgment