Burke County Sheriff Deputies have just uncovered an illegal moonshining operation in Morganton, NC (about 60 miles northwest of Charlotte).
Authorities discovered the operation after receiving a tip about some moonshiners near Old Highway 18. The property owner was cited for manufacturing and possessing non-tax-paid liquor.
According to the press release, “the still, and 15 quarts of non-tax paid brandy were seized. 140 gallons of mash was destroyed.”;
While the Burke County Sherrif’s Department certainly sees this as a win, those who commented under the post didn’t seem to agree:
North Carolina has a long history of producing illegal moonshine – it’s even thought that NASCAR was first started by illegal moonshine drivers.
Even though we now have a wide selection of bars and liquer stores in our state, illegal mooneshine operations continue to be a problem.
It’s usually hard to know the exact alcohol content of illegal moonshine, and cheap additives or incorrect processing could cause blindness or other serious health issues for consumers.