Last week, Madison County law enforcement officers were serving a warrant in search of illegal drugs. They found meth and drug paraphernalia.

They also found a moonshine still.

It brought back memories of the last active moonshine still I dealt with. We questioned a guy about stealing cars and being involved with a sheriff in illegal activities. While interviewing the man at his home, my TBI boss noticed a garden hose going into a shed in the backyard. There was a whiskey still in the shed.

The fellow cooking whiskey told me he used the moonshine for more than just drinking. He said he also used it for cleaning and cooking.

Moonshine has a rich history in Tennessee and much of the Southeast. In some areas, it is a tradition and even a profession passed on for generations. In the 1960s, Fayette County was in the top five counties in the country in destroying stills.

When I was working undercover, a former moonshiner who sold me a large amount of cocaine told me he was a former moonshiner but became a drug dealer when one of his primary ingredients, sugar, got so expensive it cut into his profits.

He was buying cocaine straight out of South America.

Untaxed liquor is not a thing of the past in Tennessee, and it is not just a tax issue. It is also a health issue. Nobody regulates the manufacture of homemade whiskey. People have been known to lose their eyesight and even die from drinking the stuff.

Whiskey stills are not a joke.

The Jackson-Madison County Metro Narcotics Unit did an excellent job when they put this still out of business.

Jim Leach is a former Special Agent in Charge with the TBI.