MAILS RIFLED

Hokitika Guardian, 15 March 1930, Page 6

MAILS RIFLED

NEW ZEALAND’S LOSS.

v POLICE BAFFLED.

SYDNEY, February 27

Australian detectievs are battled over a milliner of serious mail robberies that have been reported of late. It is evident, they say, that an international gang is operating on Australian mails, but just where the thefts are committed they are unable to say. One of the most notable casjs was reported a week or so ago from New Zealand. A registered mail fo ( r the Dominion that passed through Sydney —it arrived here by a P.and 0. boat--was rifled, and £he loss was estimated at more than £4OOO. The postal authorities in New Zealand complained to Australia, find inquiries showed that the thieves bad made their haul by loosening a portion off the seam of a mail bag, and extracting what they wanted. The “.job” was a particularly clean one,' and the, bags did not indicate that there was any cause for suspicion until they had reached their destination,' and were . The •seam had been carefully restitched and the useless part of the mail—that is to say, useless to the thieves—was returned to the hag. By the same method, a well-known Sydney firm lost a valuable shipment of silk from France. The authorities, after full inquiries, have come to the conclusion that the thefts take place before the mail reaches Australia, possiblv at Marseilles. It has been particularly noticeable that mails carried on boats that call at the French ports have suffered most from interference. The possibility of the gang having confederates on board the ships is not being overlooked, and very complete innuirnes are in hand. When the P. and 0. liner Comerin arrived at Brisbane the other day it was found that a hag of registered mail addressed to that city had been rifled of. its valuable contents. The frequency off these thefts is causing great anxiety among the postal officials.