Registered distilleries that had operated legally prior to Prohibition had been dismantled or required extensive repairs. Repeal required the government to re-establish the legal liquor industry. Neither Prohibition’s repeal nor the government’s liquor enforcement resolved the country’s illegal liquor problem. In September 1933, Agent Ness transferred from Chicago to Cincinnati as a Senior ATU Investigator, and soon after was promoted to Assistant Investigator in Charge of the Cincinnati office. The new entity became the Alcohol Tax Unit (ATU) of the Internal Revenue Service. The agents rejoined their former colleagues in the U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt issued an executive order consolidating all Federal agencies enforcing and regulating the liquor industry into one entity. In 1933, when prohibition ended with the passage of the 21st Amendment, the Bureau of Prohibition and its successor, the Alcoholic Beverage Unit, were dismantled.
Agent Ness’ team of specially trained agents damaged the Capone organization’s ability to carry out its illegal activities, and ultimately led to the indictment of Capone on over 5,000 prohibition violations under the Volstead Act on October 17, 1931. Eliot Ness and his cadre of “Untouchables” gained fame for their struggle against Al Capone and other bootleggers in Chicago. Department of the Treasury created the Bureau of Industrial Alcohol to carry out its remaining regulatory functions. The crime fighting activities of the Bureau of Prohibition were transferred to the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s philosophy of voluntary compliance with the laws. On August 26, 1926, Agent Eliot Ness was sworn in as a temporary Prohibition Agent with the Prohibition Unit in Chicago.īy 1930, the crime fighting mission began to conflict with the U.S.
Department of the Treasury to strengthen its law enforcement capabilities. Underground distilleries and saloons supplied bootlegged liquor to an abundant clientele, while gangsters fought to control illegal alcohol markets. Prohibition had little effect on America’s thirst. On January 16, 1920, the country went dry. Plans for the enforcement of the Act were drawn up and responsibility for policing the 18th Amendment was delegated to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue. It affirmed and further specified the provisions of the 18th Amendment, delineated fines and prison terms for violation of the law, empowered the Bureau of Internal Revenue to administer Prohibition, and classified all beverages containing more than ½ of 1 percent alcohol by volume as alcoholic. The Act was passed over President Woodrow Wilson's objections. The jurisdiction was no longer revenue protection.Įliot Ness (left) & Andrew Volstead (right) Prohibition Agents (a.k.a Dry Agents) EmergeĪndrew Volstead, a leading Republican member of the House of Representatives, authored the National Prohibition Act, also known as the Volstead Act. Because Prohibition banned the commercial production of liquor, the regulatory and tax collecting functions largely disappeared. However, there were no provisional funds for anything beyond token enforcement. On January 19, 1919, Congress ratified the 18th Amendment, banning the manufacture, sale and transport of alcoholic beverages.