I was acting crazy in North America, and all the crazy people there took it seriously.

Chapter 39 Calm and uneventful (Please read on, please vote with monthly tickets~)

"This not only insulted my character, but also my intelligence."

John Cramer's left hand held a summary of the Chicago precinct's prohibition efforts: "We have worked tirelessly to enforce the Prohibition order." His right hand held newspaper reports about how "in Chicago, you don't have to huddle like a thief to find a drink."

John Cramer was the first commissioner of the Prohibition Bureau.

To ensure the enforcement of Prohibition, the Walsted Act, passed by Congress, stipulated that federal officials had the right to enter illegal hotels, smash illegal liquor barrels, and search vendors suspected of bootlegging.

The "federal officials" mentioned here mainly come from the tax bureau, which is under the Treasury Department.

The law required the IRS to take the lead in enforcement, so the IRS had to establish a new Prohibition Bureau, headquartered in Washington, D.C., with offices throughout the country.

John Cramer led the work of nine assistant commissioners, each managing a jurisdiction consisting of two or more states. Within these jurisdictions, each state had a director and a staff member responsible for office operations.

The actual work of cracking down on bootlegging on the streets fell to federal Prohibition agents.

How many Prohibition agents does the federal government have?

The answer is less than 1600 people.

If these 1600 people were all gathered along the coastline and border of the United States and lined up in a row, each commissioner would have to patrol 12 miles of coastline, docks, straits, forests, and riverbanks.

This doesn't even include the supervision and management of medical alcohol, brewery and industrial alcohol, and the crackdown on illegal distilled spirits.

Due to the severe shortage of manpower, John Cramer turned a blind eye to the enforcement of the alcohol ban in the vast inland areas.

Unfortunately, Chicago now treats him like he's blind!

Needless to say, the Prohibition Commissioner assigned to Chicago was 100% corrupt.

According to newspaper reports, John Cramer believed that the entire city of Chicago, from police officers and politicians to lawyers and even judges, was corrupt!

This is the most troublesome aspect, as it means that local public authorities not only cannot provide support for the alcohol prohibition agents, but will also become a major obstacle.

But can we just ignore this?

Damn it, haven't you seen how openly Chicagoans drink alcohol has become nationally known? If this isn't addressed, the Prohibition Bureau might as well just disband.

“Let’s first send some elite Prohibition agents from the Coast Guard to collect evidence of violations of the Prohibition order, and then find a way to arrest those responsible,” John Cramer quickly made the arrangement.

……

As the team leader, James's first action upon arriving in Chicago was to confront the district's Prohibition Director.

He shouted angrily, "Your jurisdiction has become a drunkard's Jerusalem. Have you drowned your responsibilities entrusted to you by the Federation in bootlegging whiskey?"

The district's anti-alcohol chief, beads of sweat forming on his forehead, stammered, "Commissioner James, we're short-handed, and the local gangs are deeply entrenched..."

He didn't dare tell the truth. Chicago had fewer than 50 Prohibition agents, and with the border and a busy port, the city was teeming with thousands of gangsters. What could he do?

He really wanted to advise the other person: with a monthly salary of only a hundred dollars or so, why risk your life?
“Gangs?” James sneered, cutting him off. “That’s perfect. Tonight, we’ll raid the underground bar of Chicago’s biggest gang.”

“I know there are two main underground forces in Chicago. You have someone lead the way, and I’ll split into two teams and strike at the same time!”

James did not come unprepared.

Based on his past experience, gangs are nothing but weaklings, easily defeated by powerful law enforcement officers.

The district's anti-alcohol chief hesitated, then stopped speaking. "By the way, send someone to notify all the major newspapers and have them send reporters to film our crackdown on underground bars," James instructed directly, ignoring his expression.

Due to manpower shortages, in the early stages of Prohibition, Prohibition agents tended to conduct high-profile raids.

They like to invite reporters to take photos of them seizing warehouses full of whiskey, smashing countless bottles, breaking open beer barrels with axes, and pouring the whiskey down the drain, in order to amplify their image.

“Especially The Sun!” James added with a sneer.

As a devout Puritan, he was hostile to The Sun, especially given the newspaper's murky ties to local gangs.

Seeing that he wouldn't listen to any advice, the local alcohol ban director finally shut up.

He could only casually assign two people to guide him, as James had requested.

In reality, he knew that these two men were the gang's eyes and ears.

What? Most of his men are the gang's informants? That's alright then.

As for James, he can only hope for the best.

……

James quickly got ready and set off, heading straight for his target under the cover of night.

At a street corner, the guide vanished without warning, disappearing into the darkness as if swallowed by the thick night, leaving no trace of his footsteps.

Just as James became alert, several tongues of fire suddenly appeared in the darkness! The roar of the Thompson submachine gun ripped through the silence, bullets raining down, blooming into dark flowers of blood among the Prohibition agents.

James fell backward, his eyes wide with rage. The last thing he saw in his pupils was Kramer's warning before he arrived: "Be careful, the situation in Chicago is said to be a bit unusual..."

The district's anti-alcohol officer received the report from the police in the middle of the night. His voice suddenly rose, trembling with panic: "What? Commissioner James and his team were unfortunately robbed at gunpoint, and all of them were killed? The robbers are on the run?"

"To avoid widespread panic among the citizens, we need to keep this a secret for now? Okay, okay, I will report to headquarters truthfully..."

The district's anti-alcohol chief hung up the phone, his face showing no panic. He shook his head and sighed, "Commissioner James is really unlucky! How could he have run into such a ruthless thug?"

His words were filled with the feeling of "suppressing his grief".

The next day, editor Stanley Houston cautiously knocked on Logan's office door.

"Boss, last night an anti-alcohol agent invited us to film a raid on a bar, but nothing's happened since. Should we investigate?"

Everyone in the newspaper knows that the Boss has an Irish gang behind him, and that the gang is advertising their pub in the paper!
Yes, they all knew that the so-called "club" was just an underground bar, and many people in the newspaper office liked to go there for a few drinks after get off work.

Now, Prohibition agents are going to raid an underground bar. Will Boss cooperate?
"Oh?" Logan looked up and gave a friendly smile.

"No more movement? That means everything is calm and nothing has happened!"

"We don't need to worry about it, we'll continue singing and dancing as usual."

Logan spoke casually, but somehow, Stanley felt a deep, deep chill.

……

(End of this chapter)