Greensboro police join crackdown on illegal liquor sales network

Greensboro police helped pull apart an illegal liquor sales network that officials said moved hard-to-find bourbon through private online chats, a system that can leave buyers with counterfeit bottles while undercutting lawful stores that follow North Carolina’s alcohol rules.

The North Carolina ABC Commission and the Mecklenburg County Alcoholic Beverage Control Board called the crackdown Operation High Octane. Officials said the year-long effort targeted the illegal resale of spirituous liquor on the secondary market, which state law does not allow. Mecklenburg County ABC said undercover officers used buy-bust tactics and entered group chats and Discord servers to arrange illegal liquor purchases, a sign, officials said, of a sophisticated underground network built around rare and allocated spirits.

Mecklenburg County ABC said the operation produced 28 criminal summonses. Last week, Mecklenburg County ABC partnered with Greensboro Police to seize 14 bottles of high-end bourbon and cash in a coordinated enforcement action. Officials did not say where in Guilford County the seizure occurred, how much cash was recovered or whether additional arrests or inspections are coming.

The stakes go beyond collector bottles. State officials said illegal alcohol sales can evade North Carolina taxes and expose buyers to tampered or counterfeit products, risks that hit consumers directly and give illicit sellers an unfair edge over legitimate retailers, bars and restaurants that buy and sell through approved channels. Mecklenburg County ABC says it holds lotteries for allocated bourbon and other specialty products, a lawful process that stands in sharp contrast to the side market investigators say flourished online.

The Greensboro work also came alongside a separate enforcement push in the city. The North Carolina Department of Public Safety said the North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement Division, with assistance from Greensboro Police, executed four search warrants in a long-term investigation into illegal alcohol and drug activity at two Greensboro businesses. Together, the cases show how local police, county ABC officials and state agents are increasingly working across jurisdiction lines to confront liquor trafficking that moves through Charlotte, Greensboro and beyond, while avoiding the taxes, safety checks and permit rules that legal sellers must follow.