GOLD SMUGGLERS.

Hokitika Guardian, 26 February 1920, Page 4

GOLD SMUGGLERS.

SYDNEY CUSTOMS OFFICIALS MAKE A HAUL. SYDNEY, Feb. 4. A careful examination of official returns shows that gold continues to trickle away from this country—and has been doing so for a long time. This is a very serious matter, and in the past year or two the Customs officials have redoubled their vigilance. Persons leaving for other countries are liable to be subjected to a close and somewhat humiliating search. The tendency of the Asiatic to smuggle gold away, is well known, and Chinese leaving for the East are generally watched carefully; . but the scrutiny has now been extended to cover certain Europeans.

The departing traveller may not take away more than £4O in gold, and it would seem that those preparing for departure are kept under some sort of supervision because only an individual here and the're is selected for search when a steamer is about to leave—and he generally is found “with the goods.” When the Jap liner Tango Main was about to leave Sydney last Friday, two men were searched. The first one did not take to it kindly. Every bag and trunk was opened and closely inspected. Sovereigns were extracted from the gentleman’s collar box, from inside his slippers, from secret pockets in his clothes—even from the’bottom of a wellfilled cigar box. A couple of boxes of sweets were opened, and each sweet unrolled from its paper in the search for coins. The officials even dug into a tin of boot polish, while the helpless owner looked on and fumed. The search was a highly successful one: about 150 sovereigns were taken from a variety ot hiding-places and formally taken possession of. They will form the subject of legal proceedings, and will probably disappear mostly in fines. Another man on the same steamer similarly “lost” a large sum in gold. He had not sought to hide it, "however, and the Customs men’s swoop took him completely by surprise.