NATCHEZ &045; Liquor can only be sold in Mississippi by licensed establishments. These licenses must be obtained through the Alcoholic Beverage Control and the liquor must be bought from the state to constitute a legal sale of alcohol.

Three people in Natchez were charged this weekend with possession of alcohol with the intent to sale without a license.

Three people &045; Katie Thomas of Bud’s Nightcap, Patricia Hawkins on Smith Lane and Willie Knolls of Willie’s Place &045; were all issued search warrants this weekend by the ABC.

Because of time constraints, the three were released until their court dates.

All were first time offenders, which carries a maximum fine of $500 or six months in jail.

While Thomas and Knolls were the people in charge at those bars, therefore the ones to be served the warrants, Hawkins was selling alcohol illegally from her home, what ABC agent Vince Elchols called &uot;bootlegging.&uot;

All three had a license to sell beer, just not alcohol &045; a completely separate license.

&uot;Selling without a license is the majority of what we do in criminal work,&uot; Elchols said.

ABC gathers information about possible criminal activity through undercover informants. When they gather enough evidence for probable cause, they issue search warrants or sometimes arrest warrants.

This time the ABC was &uot;semi-assisted from information for the Natchez Police Department,&uot; Elchols said.

And many times, ABC investigates because the police department calls with a problem.

Natchez Police Chief Mike Mullins said the department helps the ABC with identification of suspects and helps locate them, mostly doing intelligence work for the agency.

&uot;We cooperate with ABC and provide intelligence information to them on who people are,&uot; Mullins said.