C is for Contraband

Photo credit here

Obtaining tax free booze and tobacco is prevalent in most socities, Newfoundland is no exception!  In the early days of settlement, most alcohol consumed in the province came from Europe.  Later on, run fo the Caribbean was imported.

Most of the contrabanding in Newfoundland has to do with the foreign country of France, which is right next door with its colonial islands of St. Pierre et Miquelon.  All kinds of scams have been pulled to get tax free liquor off those islands for years - for example if a police boat was bearing down on a vessel full of contraband, the smugglers would sometimes tie sacks of salt to the wooden cases and throw them overboard,  the heavy salt would take the liquor to the bottom.  The contrabanders knew how long it would take for the salt to dissolve and would return to retrieve it when the wooden cases of booze started popping up to surface.

During prohibition in the United States, a number of Newfoundland vessels, captains and crews were involved in the rum running trade, and Newfoundland was an imprtant base used by well-know smugglers including Al Capone, Savannah Unknown and Bill McCoy.

Contranding is also known as "Rum Running" or "Bootlegging"