Moonshiners (2011–…): Season 3, Episode 10 - Bootlegging Blowups - full transcript

Tonight on "Moonshiners"...

Tim needs a spy...

I'm kind of suspicious
Of chico.

If he is doing
Something illegal,

This could be dangerous.

...Josh and bill fuel up...

What's happening, man?

...And jeff and mark
Reclaim their territory.

This is how
We make the moonshine!

Captions paid for by
Discovery communications

The days of summer
Are winding down.



In just weeks,
The leaves will begin to turn,

And moonshiners
Will mount their final push

To fatten their wallets
Before winter.

In south carolina,

Josh and bill
Are outlaws on the open road.

I think I about know
Where this place is at.

They're using a decoy
Diesel tank with a false bottom

To bootleg shine.

Ready to put some liquor
In this thing.

Out of desperation,
They've made a terrible deal,

Promising to give the supplier
Half the profits --

Almost $2,000 --
While they take on all the risk.

So, what's the deal
With this?

He's gonna front us
Some of his liquor?



Yeah, we're gonna split
The profits with him.

That don't make
A bit of sense.

We're already doing
The dirty work,

Selling his liquor
For him.

I don't know what else to do.
I'm just...

What do you want me to do?

There a way
To get in this place?

This place
Is crazy-looking.

The moonshine
Is hidden in this stash house,

But the supplier
Didn't say where.

Makes me nervous
Knowing that we're going

To a location
That we're not familiar with

Just so we can pick up
Moonshine.

You got a flashlight?

Got one on my phone.

It's kind of sketchy.
I mean, anything could happen.

Wonder if this floor is even
Gonna hold me up in this place.

All right,
I'm gonna check the outside

While you check inside.

And there ain't nothing
In this place.

The hills of appalachia

Are filled
With abandoned farmhouses,

Reminiscent of a time
When agriculture was thriving.

But sometimes these relics
Hold squatters,

And they don't take kindly
To visitors.

I ain't going
Up them steps.

Hey, bill!

Huh?!

What you got?

What you got?

Where you at?

Right here.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

Let's get out of here.

Oh, right on.

We need to get
These things dumped

And get them going.

We strike a match
Out here,

Then we'll go up
Like a christmas tree.

Whoa, whoa, whoa!
You're making a mess.

Oh, that's money.

Pour this *bleep* faster.
We got to go, man.

I'm ready to get
Off this property.

Is that it?

Picking up the shine
Was the easy part.

Now the risk is on them.

I'm glad that part's done.

Yeah. Now we just got to sell
The damn *bleep*

What the hell was I thinking
When I got into this racket?

Just 120 miles to the northeast,

Wayne's on the road
With a moonshine legend.

It's nice territory
Through here, ain't it?

Jim tom's schooling the rookie

On the finer points
Of bootlegging.

You used to run a lot
Of moonshine in the day?

*bleep*

Yeah?
What'd you haul it in?

'51 mercury.

Ha.

Is that it?

Mm-hmm.

Hey!

400 miles away,

Tickle is on the way to kentucky

After an unexpected phone call
From tim.

I have to wait
Till you get out here first.

Then I can tell you
About it.

I don't want to tell you
About it on the phone.

You know, this'll be the first
Time I've been to kentucky.

Tim's call came just in time

Because tickle
Needs to get out of town.

Oh *bleep*

Someone has been tracking him,

And it cost him
A full run of shine.

Nothing is going my way
Right now.

I had a whole bunch of shine,
But all that's gone now.

If tim finds out,
He's not gonna be happy with me.

I just don't know
What all this is,

But I'm gonna go see him.

Tim.

How's it going, man?

About time you get here.

Hey, man, it's been
A long drive, but I'm here.

You say you need me some,
I'm here.

Well, I wanted you to come see
The distillery and everything.

I like it.

You got a whole lot
Going on here.

Go up that ladder, tickle.
Look up there.

Tell me what you think
About that worm up there.

Man, I tell you what --

You couldn't put nothing
This big out in the woods.

I can show you outside.

It recirculates

Into the underground
Recirculating system I got.

Yeah.

You can see that's the pipe
Right there that you saw inside.

And you can see the water's
Running out right there.

Well, look,
I'm glad you come out.

I wanted you to see
The distillery and all of that,

But I got something else
Going on.

Down in mississippi,

A shiner is preparing for
The biggest sale of his career.

Mike's got a handshake deal
To supply in new orleans.

You think you could move
A little bit more down here?

He's also got
A brand-new still site

Ready to pump out liquor.

Now, that's a thing of beauty,
As far as I'm concerned,

Right there.

Before he can fire up,

He's selling the last
Of his reserves

To stockpile cash for supplies.

Right now, I'm driving over
To deliver some moonshine

To a guy I know that makes
Some kind of herbal medicine.

Wow.
How much you got?

About 6 gallons.

What proof is it?

I got it to 105 proof.

Wow!

Smells good.

For me, pure alcohol
Is like gold.

'cause we make medicine.
That's our thing.

We don't drink it.

Before coming to america,

The people
Of ireland and scotland

Believed in the health benefits
Of alcohol.

The term "Whiskey" itself

Comes from the gaelic word
Meaning "Water of life."

When moonshine-making settlers
Arrived in appalachia,

They learned
From native americans

About local wild plants
That had health benefits

And how their own whiskey
Helped concentrate and preserve

These newly discovered remedies.

Even today,
People across appalachia

Use moonshine
For medicinal purposes,

Like cough syrup,

And rely on shiners like mike
To provide it.

Can't tell you
How much I appreciate it.

How much I owe you?

Just what we said,
What we agreed on that day.

All right *bleep*
I appreciate it.

Usually when I sell
Moonshine to somebody,

They're gonna drink it,

But today was
Quite a bit different.

He makes his herbal medicines
With it.

I'm really happy to see

That my moonshine's used
For something like that.

With the last
Of his moonshine reserves

Now in the hands
Of the medicine man,

Mike has enough cash

To begin to fill
His massive new orleans order.

He's going to get the corn
From shot

And start mashing in.

In north carolina,

The mountain men
Prepare for war.

Somebody else cooking off
Somewhere in town.

A rival shiner is producing
In their backyard

And eating into their profits.

Now mark and jeff
Are ready to take him out.

Info from lance
Has led mark to a lake,

Where locals have been buying
Shine from a new source.

Mark has decided to investigate

In hopes of catching
His competition.

If I had my way,

I'd just hunt and fish
Every day anyway.

Be right at home.

Coming up...

Josh and bill
Risk everything to bootleg...

This just feels wrong to me.

But I also know
We got to do something.

...Mike and shot
Deal with an intruder...

We can't make no moonshine

If the hogs is eating
All of our corn.

...And mark
Tracks down the competition.

In lebanon, kentucky,

Tickle's arrived
At the distillery,

Eager to see
Why tim called him in.

I know you didn't
Call me down here

Just to give me a tour.

Well, you know, I got
That letter from virginia

Telling me they won't sell
My moonshine.

I guess
They're still looking at me

As doing something wrong
Or not legit or whatever,

But you can see
I'm all legit.

But I got something else
Going on.

You know, I'm kind of new
To this territory.

You know, I got to hire people
To help me.

The problem is,

Legal and illegal
Don't go together.

Everybody's looking at me
To be on the straight arrow,

Everything's good,
Clean cut,

And, you know, I'm kind of
Suspicious of chico,

My new employee.

I don't really know him
That well,

And me being his boss man
And everything,

Maybe he may not,
You know,

Tell me everything
That I need to know about him.

Long story short, if you can
Just make friends with him

And talk to him
And get a feel for him

And see is he doing
Something wrong,

Do I need
To get rid of him.

I just need to know
What to do.

I can do that.
I'm good with people.

I can talk my way out of or into
A lot of situations.

I know!

I know you'll do good.
You always do.

Kentucky may be
Foreign territory to tickle,

But he knows illegal activity
Like the back of his own hand.

Come on back in here.

If chico is caught
Breaking the law,

Tim's lifetime of work
Will come crashing down.

That's chico right there.

Chico, here's tickle.

You're here to help?

Well, I'm just visiting
Right at the second.

He's just visiting.Yeah.

Well, any friend of his
Is a friend of mine.

Sounds good.
It's nice meeting you.

All right.

Down in mississippi,
Mike is almost ready to mash in.

We're gonna cut some corn
And load it on the truck.

Mike's made a deal

With a major
New orleans supplier,

And it's gonna mean big money.

He's got one major advantage

Over all shiners
In the region --

Easy access to
The most crucial ingredient.

Better corn here, mike.

Yeah,
It looks pretty good.

Yep.

This starts
The sweet corn right here.

For the new orleans order,

Mike is going to need
1/3 of shot's corn crop.

Look at this.

Them hogs
Have been in here again.

Look at this.
They about destroyed everything.

Eating up all the crop
And that there.

Yep.

These fields
Are the key to his operation.

For centuries,
Turning corn into liquor

Has been a way for farmers to
Protect the value of their crop,

But a lone hog can destroy
A half-acre of corn

In a single night.

You still got a hog trap?

Yeah.

We might better
Go to work on that,

Get it reset
And straightened out,

Start catching
Some of these things.

The hogs
Are all over this field.

They're gonna be eat up
All of our corn

If we don't get
Something stopped.

We got to get the trap fixed,
Get it tuned up, get it baited,

And eliminate this hog problem

'cause they're walking off
With our money.

In north carolina...

...Mark's tracking a man
He suspects is a rival shiner.

He's looking for signs
Of heavy foot traffic,

Strong evidence that liquor
Is being made in the area.

Just a few miles away,
Lance is on the move,

Working overtime ever since
His bootlegger got cold feet.

Lance can't move
All of the liquor on his own.

He faces a tough choice --

Trust a runner he's never met
Or fall short on deliveries.

Well, we can definitely
Make it worth your while.

We'll give you a shot.

We'll let you know what's up
In a couple days.

All right.
Appreciate it.

If lance can shore up
The bootlegging,

This season
Will be a huge success.

Down in south carolina,

Bootlegging has become
The only way

Josh and bill can make money.

I just want to get rid
Of this moonshine,

Get some money, go home,
And get some dinner.

But the supplier

Is expecting
A big cut of the profits.

Hey, man,
How's it going?

If they can't get top dollar
For the shine,

They risk sliding
Deeper into debt.

Where we headed?

I didn't ride with you last time
'cause I didn't know the man.

I was getting paranoid.

I'm overly cautious some days,
And I just didn't know the man.

Some days?

I'm ready to get this stuff
Sold and unloaded.

I want to get this man
His money back.

Waiting is that part I hate,
Man, just sitting out here.

I'm just ready to damn get
Our operation going.

Where in the hell
Is this dude, man?

I don't know, dude.

He was supposed to have
Been here a while back.

Makes me nervous
As a long-tailed cat --

Now that you said that,
I see headlights coming.

Yeah, that's him.
Come on. Let's go.

What's happening, man?

Brought some jugs?

Powered by the engine
In josh's truck,

The tank's pump handle

Dispenses a gallon of shine
In under 6 seconds.

Ain't you ever heard
Of not smoking at the pump?

What, you think
This stuff's flammable?

Sweet.

There you go,
Brother.

Thank you, man.

I'd like to do that about
Six or seven times a week.

As long as we pick
The location

And, you know, we feel
Pretty confident about it,

I don't really see
A problem with it.

Part of me
Still feels like

We still need to know
Who we're dealing with.

Are all our deals
Gonna go that smooth?

Coming up...

Josh and bill face the music...

Wait. Just --
Just stop right there.

He said if we don't bring him
The money,

He's liable
To whip our ass.

...And wayne pays the piper.

That's right on the money.

Secret-wise, I'm still holding
A few things that he don't know.

See you later, there,
Liquor-maker.

In south carolina...

You know
How bad broke we are?

I know, and we're still
In the hole with them.

You know how bad
We got to get rid of
All the liquor we got?

Josh and bill have become
Bona fide bootleggers...

Sweet.

There you go, bro.

Thank you, man.

...But they still have
20 gallons of shine to sell,

And they owe their supplier
$2,000 or else.

He's called.

He said if we don't bring him
The money,

It's gonna be the last time
We ever get any moonshine.

He's liable to whip our ass.

Man, I didn't get into
This *bleep* trying to...

We can't even keep
Our heads above water.

I mean, we had to go
From trying to be moonshiners

To being bootleggers

Just so we can make
Enough dollars to --

Just to get back
To being moonshiners again.

Hello?

Who is this?

Wait. Just --
Just stop right there.

You mean to tell me that man
Gave you my phone number?

So I just got a phone call
From a guy wanting some shine.

I mean, it just seems
A little bit odd

That I don't know you
And you're calling me

And you're asking me
About this or that.

He said, "Well,
Your buddy little dog

Told me to give you a call."

I don't know.

This -- this seems so out of --
Out of element for me.

Yeah, I got to tell you,
It makes me a little nervous,

But we need the money
Really bad.

I trust the bulldog,
There,

So we might could
Work something out.

About $100 a gallon.

I'll meet you.
What do you want to do?

All right. Well, uh,
We'll help you out,

But there better not be
No funny business.

Okay, we'll be there.

What do you mean,
"We'll be there"?
We'll be where?

Over by the state line.

There are stiffer penalties

For bootleggers who get caught
Crossing state lines,

So it's a favorite spot
For the police to make arrests.

We don't know this man.

We don't know the place
We're going to.

Sometimes it just is
What it is.

I know we got to unload
This stuff, man.

I'm not comfortable doing it,
But we're gonna do it.

For how much
He gonna give us?

$120 a gallon.

$120 per gallon?

He said
Because we didn't know him

And it was
Out of our element,

He'd give us
20 extra dollars a gallon.

Well, that's another thing
That makes me suspicious,

If somebody's willing to pay
That much for a gallon.

I know.
That's -- that's a --

Somebody's wanting to pay us
More than the market value...

We're either
Gonna make top dollar

Or we're gonna get locked up
'cause it's some sting.

In mississippi,
A herd of wild hogs

Is destroying
Mike and shot's corn supply.

They need to act fast

If they want the raw material
To make enough shine

For their new orleans
Connection.

Well, let's see what
We got to do to this thing

To get it to work.

Mike and shot are constructing
A baited corral-style hog trap.

This 4-foot-high
Circular enclosure

Has a spring-loaded gate
Connected to a tripwire.

When the hog enters
And takes the bait,

It trips the wire,
Slamming the gate shut.

For shot, the situation is dire.

His livelihood

Depends on the success
Of their moonshine business.

This hog trap has to work.

I think that's about
All we can do to it,

Ain't it, shot?

I hope
That sucker comes here.

In north carolina,

A rookie shiner
Is having a stellar season.

Heading over to jim tom's

To take him his part
Of the run that I made.

Been pretty good
Since jim tom hooked me up.

Wayne's made good money

On his underwater dead drops.

But he still has dues to pay.

Oh, there you are, buddy.

What you say,
Jim tom?

Good morning, sir.
How are you?

I'm doing good, buddy.

Oh. Got me something?

I got you something.
Buddy, it's been good.

Is it good?

Well, that's good,

But it's been good,
With what you told me.

And you didn't even
Have to proof this one.

No, no, it was good right out --
Right off the still.

You know it starts out
Real high -- 160, 140 --

But after a while,

There will be one of them
Gallons, it proofs itself.

Man, I've been selling
That stuff.

I could sell it all day long
Like that.

Well, I told you.

I got 17 gallons out of that,
And I've got you $300.

That's exactly
What you owe me, yeah.

Right.
I ain't gonna short you.

Right on the money.

You're a true man.

That's what I said.

You took care of me.
I'm gonna take care of you.

That's the reason
That I like you so well.

Well, I'll just put that
Right in my pocket.

And there'll be
More to come.

Well, is your customers
Liking it?

Oh, yeah, they love it.

That's why I'm after you.

Secret-wise, I'm still holding
A few things that he don't know.

See you later, there,
Liquor-maker.

As long as they don't complain
About it,

I don't need to tell him
What else I know.

Jim tom might not get
Many more payments

Because just a few miles away,

A law man is closing in.

Deputy sheriff chuck
Is tracking shine

From the woods
To the stash houses.

They make moonshine
Way back in the mountains,

But they've got to get it
To where the people's at, so...

We're gonna check this tip out.

And he's received a tip
That could be a game changer.

I had somebody call in
And report

That they thought
They'd smelled some mash.

Wayne's been using
The lake as a dead drop.

Once the bootleggers pick it up,

They stockpile it
At stash houses like this one.

Smell some funny stuff.

We can't enter the building
Or anything like that.

You've got to have a plain view
Of what --

Of something that's illegal.

We'll come by from time to time
And keep a check on it.

I don't have a search warrant,

But sometimes
You can smell that.

Beer smells pretty strong,

But I've got a job to do, too,
And I'm gonna do that.

On the other side of the county,

A shiner is in the woods,
Going in for the kill.

Mark's been tracking signs
Of heavy foot traffic

In the woods by the lake.

It's strong evidence

That a rival shiner is operating
In his own backyard.

I thought he was
Up to something.

Now I know.

We're gonna take care of him.

Coming up...

The battle lines are drawn
In north carolina...

I found his still.

I believe he's trying
To cut in on our territory.

...As moonshiners prepare
For war.

We're gonna have to
Show him we mean business.

In mississippi,

With acres of corn
In jeopardy...

Them hogs
Have been in here again.

...Mike and shot have set a trap

To catch
Some four-legged thieves.

We better go get him.

We can't make no moonshine

If the hogs is eating
All of our corn.

He's kind of intimidating.

He's got some big tusks,
And he's also powerful.

They'll need to rope the boar

Before removing it
From the trap.

It's not a job
For the faint of heart.

One slice or gouge
From its razor-sharp tusks

Could be fatal.

They're just mean.

They'll hunt you up.

If you give them room,
They'll hurt you.

Spanish explorers

Originally brought wild boars
To the new world

As domestic pigs in the 1500s.

Many escaped and ran wild.

Free from captivity,

A domestic pig can turn feral
In a matter of months,

Growing hairy
And developing tusks.

Today, more than 6 million
Of these beasts

Inhabit 47 states,

And their voracious appetite

Inflicts $1.5 billion in damage
To agriculture each year.

All right.

I think we got him.

Got some pretty good tusks
On him, don't he?

This hog's finally secure,

But mike and shot's corn
Is far from safe.

Where there's one wild boar,
There are plenty more nearby.

You never know
What you'll get into

When you're making moonshine.

Back in south carolina,

Josh and bill have
A daylight hand-off

With an unknown buyer.

He's either gonna be a customer
Or he's gonna be undercover.

They're taking an extreme risk,
But they have no choice.

They need to move the shine.

I don't know
Any spots around here.

I don't know if you got a lawman
Camped out up in these trees.

I'm thinking the more
We sell liquor around here,

There's more chances
Gonna be to get popped.

Room this small,
There ain't no choice sometimes.

It's hot,
And I'm ready to go.

I don't see no blue lights
On the top of it,

But, hell, that don't mean
Nothing these days.

Is that him?

I guess so.

We don't know this dude.

In north carolina,

Mark's discovered a rival still
In his own backyard.

There's no way jeff and mark

Will let an upstart shiner
Chisel in on their territory.

After we built
Such business last year,

Everybody's trying to get in
On it now, ain't they?

Yeah, we got to protect
What we built here.

I'll warn him first.

If that ain't enough,
We'll take other measures.

We're gonna have to show him
We mean business.

On the other side of the county,

Lance is preparing
For another dropoff.

He's determined
To make this one go right,

Come hell or high water.

I had a bootlegger.
He got scared off.

It made me look real bad
In dad and mark's eyes

'cause I told them
That I could handle this

And, you know,
I was gonna take care of it.

And then
It didn't get took care of.

With the clock ticking,

Lance is pushing his luck,

Taking a chance
On an untested bootlegger.

You never know
With these people,

So I'm gonna hide out,

Make sure that
He picks the liquor up,

And I'm gonna make sure
This job gets done.

This is lance's final chance.

Screw this up,
And he'll have hell to pay.

I'm gonna make sure

That there's no more problems
This season.

This looks like
A good spot right here.

We can see the drop site,
Road coming in.

He'll never see me up here.

I've really got to watch out,

Make sure that
He's not gonna rip us off.

Coming up,
The law closes in on mike.

Uh-oh.
Let's get out of here.

This is not good.

Near the
South carolina state line...

...Josh and bill
Are getting reckless.

They're meeting
A brand-new customer

In broad daylight.

Josh.

Yeah.
You got the buckets, right?

I don't like selling
To people I don't know.

It's over here
In broad daylight,

And I'm in a place

That I'm really
Not very comfortable with.

This is more moonshine
Than we've hauled ever.

I really don't want to be caught
With that much moonshine.

Don't fill it
So dang full, man.

He overfilled
That one a little bit.

You got a little more on
Your money's worth on that one.

You got the cash?

How'd you feel about that?

We didn't get arrested
This time.

Yeah, well, the thing I like
About all this is

We're building our base.

We're already
Lining stuff up,

So when we start making,
We got our customers lined up.

Right.
It's a good thing.

It's a good thing.

In kentucky,

Tim is sending
His old partner tickle

To do surveillance
On his stillhand chico.

Well, I'm heading over
Here to chico's house today.

Tim's a little worried.

He says he's a good guy,
But he's a little concerned

That maybe chico might be doing
A little something illegal.

As far as tim's legal business

And as much as he's got to talk
To the abc agency,

He can't afford to have anybody
Doing anything illegal.

Kind of bad to roll up
On somebody like this,

But I got to do
What tim needs me to do

And check this guy out.

Being this far out,

If I'd have run up on something
I ain't supposed to see,

I could
Never be heard from again.

That's a worm out there
Right now.

He's definitely up to something.

In north carolina,

It's lance's last shot
At redemption.

He needs to be
Absolutely certain

That this pickup
Goes off without a hitch.

With everything
That's went on here lately,

I don't know who I can trust.

It's hard for me
To trust outsiders, you know?

My whole life, I was raised
To only trust family.

Down in mississippi,

With one more hog
Out of the way,

It's time for mike and shot
To get back to shinin'.

What I'm doing here today,
I'm going by the barn.

I'm planning on putting lots
Of mash barrels in this barn.

Like all shiners,

Mike does a perimeter sweep
Before approaching his still.

Somebody broke a twig here.

That's not a real good sign.

Somebody's been here.

Uh-oh.

We got problems here.

Let's get out of here.

This is not good.

Next time on "Moonshiners"...

The battle for turf
Is under way.

And I'm gonna put
A lot of faith in you

To know that you're not
Gonna go tell nobody.

This stays here.

See if we can get rid
Of him once and for all.

What the hell was that?!

Man, that was a gunshot
If I ever heard one.