RED OPIUM SMUGGLERS

Hokitika Guardian, 10 May 1926, Page 4

RED OPIUM SMUGGLERS

GREAT TRADE IN CENTRAL ASIA

(By Lieutenant P. T. Etherton, formerly British Consult-General at Tash- ■ kent, Author of “ Across the Roof of the World,” in the London “ Daily Mail.”)

The suppression of the opium traffic ' is engaging the attention of an inter- 1 national commission under the auspices 1 of the League of Nations, and most of the States who are parties to the League assist at the conferences. The ' Russian Soviet, however, declined the 1 invitation to attend, gave vent to derisive statements implying bad faith to the nations participating, and asserted that the latter are merely striving to serve their own commercial interests and gain material benefit. These remarks were singularly inopportune for the Bolsheviks are deriving no inconsiderable revenue from the exploitation of the opium traffic in Central Asia. The desire for revenue gives rise to interesting manoeuvring on the part of States whose financial straits are acute, and in this the Bolsheviks show originality as well as their customary unscrupulousness. HIGH PROFITS FOR THE SOVIET. Ever since they came into power the productive capacity of the land has di-, mi wished, and in Turkestan prosperity has given place to penury and famine. Revenue sagged in proportion, so the Bolsheviks cast about for means to provide the wherewithal, and on learning that opium could be smuggled into Chinese territory in exchange for good silver, they cancelled the regulations, in so far as opium is .concerned, under which all articles are annexed for local consumption only. The province of Semirclchinsk, in Russian Turkestan, is the chief opiumgrowing centre and in the summer months the poppy fields resemble a vast red carpet. At that season Hie districts adjacent to Tokmak and the Great Kara Lake, where the soil is peculiarly adapted to the growing of the poppy, teem with life and activity in the preparation of the drug, which may eventually find its way to the opium dens of Limehon.se and the secret orgies that occasionally come to light in the West End. When prepared for export il passes the border into Chinese territory by unfrequented routes, for over such a vast frontier it is not possible for the Chinese to watch every valley and ravine. The Kirghiz supply guides and transport when required, and so well organised is the system that the loads are passed through without interference and brought to the distributing centres, where they are disposed of by the smugglers’ agents. The traffic is

highly profitable, and when cost of production, transport charges, and all

incidental expenses have been defrayed there is still a profit of approximately Cl (id per pony load, a very large return on the capital outlay. SMUGGLERS’ CLEVER RUSES. Chapters might be written on the wiles and stratagems of the smugglers to run their cargoes through. All sorts of 'subterfuges are adopted to ensure the onward passage ol' the drug from, the border line, for there the real danger commences, and Chinese officials and police are indulgent or exacting according to the amount of silver (lust east before them.

The smuggling season coincides rather opportunely with the gathering of the harvest, and so the opium is often cleverly concealed in sacks of corn brought down for sale in the grain markets. The importation of skins and carpets likewise otters a good medium, and you may see them neatly rolled and slung across baggage ponies but betraying no sign of flic drug concealed within their depths. One sedate old greybeard, the type of Moslem elder one sees in the picture hooks, had a cart specially constructed with hollow shafts and cleverly arranged spaces between floor hoards, a novel vehicle that would carry a

thousand pounds’ worth of opium. This sanctimonious old gentleman, whom one associated only with the mosque and the prayer carpet, encountered bad lack. His cart collided with another and smashed one of the telltale shafts—a mishap which ended his career as a smuggler, for a time at all events.

Being 'Moslems, the women of Turkestan are veiled, and the opium traders are consequently able to use them as a mask for contraband. Beautiful maidens will recline in the travelling carts with an air of innocence and virtue, which is enhanced by the length and quality of the veils they wear; moreover. in consonance with the rules of Moslem etiquette, none would dare violate the sanctity of the veil. ACROSS THE ROOF OF THE WORLD. The existence of this heavy traffic in opium in Asiatic Russia, which, lias escaped notice, makes possible not only Soviet taxation but an extensive system of exchange. Large quantities of manufactured goods, raw and prepared leather, cloth goods and material of everyday use are imported into Russia from Chinese territory in exchange for opium, and often the drug is paid for when taken over in Semiretehinsk with the cotton doth of Chinese Turkestan, home-made hoots, and Manchester chintzes and muslins. Those last are brought through India and over the Karakoram .Mountains, the world’s highest trade route, on which you must cross seven passes, the lowest of which exceeds 1 (>.OOO feet and the highest JS.oOll feet. It is curious to think that the product of the Lancashire mills should he the medium of exchange for a drug that afreets, directly and mdirodly. the welfare of half the population of Asia.

A considerable amount of opium is grown in Afghanistan, whence it is imported into China through Waklian, fn the north-west corner of Afghanistan. As some of the loe'al officials are interested in the trade they do not display inurli activity in its suppression, fn its passage to Chinese territory the opium crosses the Roof of the World, being convoyed to Kirghiz—hardy nomads whose lives are spent at an altitude higher than the summit of .Mont Blanc. From the world’s roof if will pass across the plains of Turkestan and through China, a journey of several thousand miles and may. as in the case of the Russian article, ultimately figure in a police court case in London.