Bootleggers’ Bounty: Taxman’s $1 Billion Bill to Liquor Smugglers

September 30, 1921 – Washington, D.C. – The U.S. government has come to a staggering realization: it’s owed a whopping $1 billion by bootleggers and rumrunners who’ve been smuggling millions of gallons of whisky, wine, and homemade liquor into the country. According to records of the Internal Revenue Bureau and the Prohibition Unit, the clandestine liquor trade has been a goldmine for these lawbreakers, with an estimated 32 million dollars due in income and excess profits taxes.