Moonshine Mayhem: Bribery and Bootlegging Plague the Roaring Twenties

February 25, 1921, will be remembered as a dark day in the struggle against organized crime. Widespread bribery and corruption have been exposed in the enforcement of the Volstead Act, the law aimed at suppressing the sale and production of liquor in the United States. The whiskey bandits, as they are known, have been operating with impunity in Kentucky, where they have been raiding saloons and warehouses, making off with valuable loads of contraband.

Law enforcement officials in Lexington, Kentucky, have been caught red-handed in a scandal involving bribery and corruption. Multiple cases of whiskey have been seized, with one load of 125 gallons being confiscated near Illinois. The whiskey was allegedly taken out of storage in a region known to be a hotbed of bootlegging activity. New York City, often considered the epicenter of organized crime in the United States, has also been implicated in the scandal, with numerous arrests and seizures reported.

Commissioner Harnish refused to cooperate with United States District Attorney Koss, who was attempting to gather evidence against saloonkeepers by reporting the daily names and addresses of those arrested for intoxication. This lack of cooperation has hindered efforts to crack down on the lucrative liquor trade. In San Francisco, a federal grand jury has been investigating allegations of bribery involving federal agents and a pair of notorious liquor smugglers, Sobel and Broers.

The investigation has also led to the discovery of multiple stills in rooms used by Victoriano and Androlli in Middlesex, New Jersey. In Whitley County, Kentucky, one moonshiner was killed in a gunfight with authorities. The brazen disregard for the law displayed by these individuals is a stark reminder of the challenges faced by law enforcement in their efforts to combat organized crime.

The case of Deo B. H. Harwood, a liquor smuggler, serves as a prime example of the corrupting influence of organized crime. Harwood was sentenced to prison for selling liquor and was allegedly involved in a string of illicit transactions.