Everglades Outlaws: The Complete History of Moonshining, Alligator Poaching & Marijuana Smuggling in Florida
Everglades Outlaws - The Complete History of Moonshining, Alligator Poaching & Marijuana Smuggling in Florida pulls you into the backcountry at dawn and doesn't let go. From plume hunters and hidden stills to square grouper drops, cocaine spillover, and today's eco-crimes, B.j Dellinger tells the full, unvarnished story of how the Glades became a proving ground-for outlaws, for wardens, and for a community learning, sometimes the hard way, to keep a wild place alive.
Written like a guide's best day on the water-fast, vivid, and packed with hard-won know-how-this is narrative nonfiction with receipts. Dellinger blends fieldwork, oral histories from Seminole and Miccosukee elders, case files, and on-the-ground science to show how law, livelihood, and landscape collided-and how patience, paperwork, and pride ultimately beat swagger.
Inside you'll discover:
The people of the river and how a water world shaped culture, trade, and survival
Plumes, pelts, and the first conservation crackdowns that changed American wildlife law
The drainage schemes that created roads-and opportunities-for contraband
Prohibition's "sugar-shine" stills, swamp runners, and backcountry justice
Gator men and the economics of extinction-and recovery
Wardens at war: tools, raids, informants, and the true cost of enforcement
Square grouper and cocaine spillover: mother ships, drop zones, and accountant-level cash flows
The smuggler's playbook: signals, decoys, radio codes, and why patience beat clever
Trials, turncoats, and task forces that rewrote strategy with RICO and forfeiture
From poacher to protector: redemption arcs that now safeguard the marsh
Comeback creatures and the tug-of-war between science and tradition
Water wars and restoration: sugar, sea rise, and the multi-billion-dollar fix
Today's black market: pythons, turtles, orchids, and the age of DM-to-doorstep eco-crime
What you'll get: a propulsive history, field-sharp storytelling, and practical insight into how wild places are lost-and saved. Rich appendices include a timeline of outlaw eras, a glossary of Glades gear and slang, schematic route maps (ethically generalized), and a research guide to primary sources.
For readers of: true crime with brains, environmental history with bite, maritime and backcountry lore, and anyone who likes their nonfiction immersive, humane, and useful.
About the author: B.j Dellinger writes at the confluence of law, livelihood, and wild water, pairing narrative drive with shoe-leather research to map how the Glades turned shortcuts into cautionary tales-and how communities learned to let the marsh breathe.
Open the cooler, check the tide, and step aboard. The Everglades is talking. This book teaches you how to listen.
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