Because wine is a consistent tribute to the Lamanites, it is clear that, if there were any stringent prohibitions such as were seen among the later Aztecs, it was against public drunkenness and not against drinking. In fact, the Aztecs drank. Modern laws similarly distinguish between drinking and drinking to excess. In the case of the Lamanite guards, it appears that they not only drank, but were known to drink to excess. Gideon’s two-part plan begins with assuring that the habitually drunken guards will truly be incapacitated, and the second part is to use the “secret pass.” How “secret” was it? Gideon knew about it, but obviously the Lamanites didn’t, since their encampment would have been squarely athwart the most obvious route out of the land.