WAR ON DRUGS

Hokitika Guardian, 18 May 1933, Page 8

WAR ON DRUGS

EARLY VICTORY IS “EXPECTED

MANY LARGE ORGANISATIONS

Einap victory is now in : sight in a years’ war on the drug traffic: waged in all parts of the world by the .secret police of 40 nations, says the News of the World. That ntnvspape» says -—“Tile days of the ‘dope lores’ are numbered. Their ramifications acros s have been traced; their organisations have been" unmasked; and soo n ■ the multiple' threads of a gigantic net, wich hus ensnared countless thousands in ,a soul-destroying habit, will b e severed. A*ita,l information supplied by one of the former chiefs of this pernicious trade has crowned the labours of the International investigators and complete exposure is imminent.’ - Olio of the most valuable dossiers compiled by Bussell Pash l , Commandant of the Cairo Police and head of the Central Narcotics Bureau —an organisation established by the League o* Nations to fight the “dope’’ traffic ot the world—is rf .veritable. “Who* Who” of the chiefs of the drug ped lars. In his report, recently issued, 'Russell Pa-slia declared, “They are situated and operate in such widely-apal't ech-f'-es as liondon, Washington, Rotter dam, 'Berlin, New York, Constantinople and Copenhagen.” It- is also known that sub-sections of tLo organ’Vations- - work ill every port, almost, around the . British coset, and that, American gangsters were involved to an .enormous extent in providing • shooting .squads” as escorts for .the tr ns fee and carriage of “.dope” - i-cvors '.America and even farther afield. Much of the vita] information to me to Bussell pasha, as he now discloses, from B, Greek, who wag denounced as a mys. levy m n ot the traffic only some two years' ago. He was suspected of operating from Constantinople, with agencies in Marseilles, London, Hamburg and America.

LIVING A LIFE OF LUXURY,

To-day the Greek is living: a life of luxury' in 2\thens on the huge profit* he-

to<-de. ft w' i s- in 1931 that his activities wer e discovered .by > one of the •secret agents of Russell Pasha. It was found that he was dealing with cargoes of “dope” vaTbed dt £250,000 • each.

One such cargo w.:s actually traced and 'seized'“off New York. Information had been obtained that this consignment \va,<j 'being shipped from the Persian Giilf— the main source of supplies. Tho route wa s also discovered by secret- service agoiits—via Marseilles- 1 to New York. A large' portion of this ‘‘dope’' was destined for -American criminal ..gangs, notably ill New York and Chicago From bis •headquarters at Constantinople, the'leader operated with two .‘r-'rPis,” each organised separately, but working t’ogethffi'—otie jn' the E*l.st »nd the other''in Germany. He made '- the, building tip of his organisation' h s own persona] job. Hie went to work . in several capitals, including London, as a waiter' and in other roles so as 1-j enlist a complete army of agents. The biggest deals were with the European and American markets- The captured cargo was but one of several others known to be on the high seas at the same time, but the rest “got thrbugh.” Now this one-time “Dope ■Emperor” has given his former competitors away. The ; secret, code book used by bevera] organisations for international messages is also in the possession of 'Russell Pasha.

CAUGHT IN AN. AEROPLANE

When RnsseU Pasha tells the whole ' story, a’ prominent place will be given ■to the machinations of a man who was lenotvh throughout the East as the ‘‘Napoleon of Narcotics.” F«r a genera. tioiV he was a shiisttf- figure in the Qrie'nt. He wielded enormous secret power. ’At his command ships crossed the 1 oceans, aeroplanes darted through the skies, and armoured can* and camel caravans traversed deserts. His word was’law and disobedience of bis orders meant death.

Supplies were gathered in Atghanisian Sind Persia, to be distributed by agentg through the world. In Cairo there was a- special’laboratory factory, who to the “dope” was disguised so «» to rhake it easier to dispose of. The “Xapdlton” even organised a special shipping line.

“Napoleon” fell at last to the traps of ’Russell Pasha. A spy was sent to the Afghanistan border to work his way ■into' the organisation. For a time the spy 'actually did the leader’s bidding tindl' bccafiie pilot of one- of bis “dope, carrying' Aeroplanes. Then came a day when 1 Napoleon trusted himself in the spy's plane. And ar. arranged' forced landing in the Sinai desert placed him in the clutches of Russell Pasba’s men.

■ Soon Russell Pasha will be in a position : to make a full and final report of the iseveri' years’ war, and it is predicted' that its revel-ition s will thrill and amaze the whole world.