Illegal moonshine operation making $5,000 a week busted in Alabama, sheriffs say
Deputies busted an illegal moonshine operation in rural Alabama that was producing about $5,000 of moonshine per week, according to two sheriff’s offices.
Deputies with the Pike County and Bullock County sheriff’s offices discovered the operation in a rural area on the line between the two counties in southeastern Alabama on July 6, Pike County Sheriff Russell Thomas told McClatchy News.
They found around 30, 50-gallon barrels of fermenting rye, as well as about 130 gallons of mash in a vat, he said. Mash is a mix of ingredients, often including yeast, sugar, water and rye or corn, that is fermented and distilled to make the high-proof alcohol.
Deputies destroyed the operation on site by knocking holes into the bottoms of the barrels with axes, Bullock County Sheriff Raymond “Buck” Rodgers told McClatchy News.
The operation was set up about 2 miles off a county road in a thick wooded area, Thomas said. Bullock County is about 50 miles southeast of Montgomery.
Manufacturing moonshine is a felony in Alabama that can carry up to five years in prison, the sheriff’s offices said.
The liquor can be dangerous to drink because of its high alcohol content as well as the unsanitary conditions in which it’s made, Thomas said.
Sometimes the water used in the production of moonshine is stagnant and contains bacteria, he said. Animals, such as squirrels and rats, can also get into the rye, and sometimes the metals from the production equipment can seep into the liquid, putting consumers at risk of lead poisoning, he said.
“There’s a lot of different things that could go wrong,” he said.
No arrests have been made in connection with the operation. The sheriff’s offices say they are investigating.
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