OPIUM TRAFFIC.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18237, 22 November 1924, Page 13

OPIUM TRAFFIC.

URGE SCALE OPERATIONS. RECENT HAULS AN INDICATION. y (IFXCIAL TO "TBM TRMSS.") AUCKLAND, November 21. ■ i The size of the recent seizures of dpium'ia New Zealand ports indicates quite clearly that the traffic in the drng ,1a on ft, huge scale. On the Sussex alone £BOOO worth of opium was discovered 'by tho Customs Department in Wellington and 'Lyttelton., In October, less ; ,than a month later, seven tins, valued at "i £l5O, wbre found on the Maheno after at Wellington from Sydney. were hidden in a deckhouse, and apparently were no man's property. On .the next, trip of the Maheno 11 tins Wert found by Auckland officials befieath the wardrobe in a saloon cabin, r No one claimed them. In view of the opportunities that exist 1 for transporting these small tins of bpium, the extent of the traffic eaji only , ffiatter for conjecture. The opium <;|i picked in very .small receptacles. •Often the tins resemble the curved f ..tigaretie cases which can be carried in hip pocket in a minimum of space, and there are thousands of men vrilling to | t*fce the risk, it is improbable that the :di»eovories represent any considerable 'proportion of the total quantities in ' ;*»*aßit. . One may conjecturo who takes tho -greatest risks. Is it likely that _ a E ship 'a carpenter, or an English , <*to\fard, has the-hundreds or thousands lisle i n an endeavour to distribute a •WHstgnment? It is the opinion of those ■Xthe'best position to' judge that 'Withy organisations, possibly internalionalia scope, are engaged in the opium hade, and that syndicates, located in j Zealand and other countries, deal | them. There is a strong belief ] ;.jttat the chief dealers in the drug are caught, and that the chief prinregard theij lossess by seizures as trading risk. It seems plain that if average seizures represented any portion of the total volume opium circulated, those controlling -ft®,capital involved would decide that was not a paying one. Everyj4iiLijg points to the view that boats trad- ' '.ag about the Pacific have on board far '*j*ioro opium than is ever discovered. : There is, fortunately, no reason for that many Europeans in New touch tho drug. Oases of ad®sboii to it by Europeans who have no with Chinese have been but they are extremely rare. . opium trade of the Pacific owes 'tfy.Wde dimensions to the immigration Chinese and Hindus. The chief ports f 6 Pacific Islands, according to seafilaiiag men, are hot-beds of the traffic, it is probable that the large hauls in New Zealand ports are often t ,'®Mely j n transit or for transhipment. ' ~*7 instance, opium brought by a ws-'tj-fpeete; tins spirited on board at may have come from the Pci - K" "ft*.Gulf-and may be destined for Sjdfit Turkish opium brought from jpnika may reach its market in I'iJ l