What Grandpa Never Told You... A Lot of Northern New York Families Made a Shady Living As Smugglers, Bootleggers, and Booze Runners During Prohibition 1920 - First Year of Prohibition: A Watertown police officer leaped from a moving taxi onto a fleeing car to arrest Massena bootleggers. Federal agents raided Ogdensburg by land and sea to crack down on rum-running. 2 Potsdam ministers helped federal agents conduct righteous speakeasy raids. Ogdensburg's Fred Lassail: Bootlegger and Dad. A high-speed chase down the streets of Massena led to the arrest of Potsdam bootleggers. An Ogdensburg mayoral candidate defended the city's leading speakeasy owner. 12,000 quarts of liquor were seized on a ship docked at Cardinal, Ontario by Prescott Customs agents after the booze showed up in Ogdensburg. An ALCOA crane operator's suicide in Massena was blamed on bootlegging, smuggling, and gambling. Gouverneur's Fred Scozzafava crashed into the New York Central train in DeKalb while hauling a load of smuggled booze. Ogdensburg's Joseph Rish's colorful career as a speakeasy owner. Burglars robbed the U.S. Customs House for Booze at Rouses Point. Cranberry Lake, Norfolk, Pyrites, and others raided. Federal G-Men Led Raids Across Northern New York.