The researcher served as an employee of a large wholesale liquor distribution center located in a partially "wet" county adjacent to an area containing 49 counties that prohibited the sale of alcohol. The researcher engaged in extensive interactions with customers, becoming acquainted with bootleggers and also posing as a retail customer of bootleggers in "drug" counties. The study also used official records of 47,522 arrests and reported offenses for non-urban Kentucky counties during 1988. The analysis focused on the geographic scope of bootlegging, the characteristics of participants, and other goods and services provided. Results showed that bootlegging enterprises represent the most basic and rudimentary of criminal organizations, meeting a specific demand without the hindrances posed by the social and demographic difficulties of urban environments. This form of organized crime is family-based and simple and flexible in form. Its flexibility and adaptability makes law enforcement efforts prohibitively difficult and ensures the continuation of the enterprise. 20 references (Author summary modified)