THE UNDERWORLD.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXX, Issue 5431, 31 May 1929, Page 3

THE UNDERWORLD.

' SYDNEY’S GREAT PROBLEM. (From the Sydney Sun.) Furtive shadows, a shot, and a man reels gravely wounded 1 It is stealthy war in he underworld. Police do not have to delve deeply or think prodoundly to find the cause for this clash between gang princi- • pals. “Snow,” they say, and organise their quest for the gunman. “Although it is extremely difficult to hgauge the value of the comaine criminally imported into Australia, a reliable estimate is that thousands of pounds worth of the drug, in blue sachets, is received annually by illicit traders. Amazing profits are made, and it $ seems that agents who distribute the “snow" prey mainly upon women. These become frantically addicted to the drug, are prepared to pay anything for it, and conceal their desire in that direction most cunningly from the police. There arc several women traffickers of cocaine, too. And they are just as sly and resourceful as the addicts of their sex. In the underworld “snow” is becoming an obsolete term for the narcotic. Women who seek its influence have given it another, less evil-sound-r>jng name, “Angy,” they call it—the derivation is obscure. At the moment it is considered that the “sniffing” of “Angy” is almost entirely restricted to women of the streets. Blit they are an exceedingly profitable sources of revenue to the unlawful agents, because they will spend every penny they obtain to secure the drug. There is no doubt, however, that innocents have been induced to become takers of cocaine merely through being dared to do so, or persuaded just to try it once. The cocaine is easy to secure by trustful addicts introduced to the traders or agents. But the traffickers will not take risks with those whom ; they have never- seen before, unless recomended by some addict whom they are positive will not betray them to the police. But if the desire to become an addict exists, then the matter of getting the drug is rendered com||paratively simple. The difficulty is to detect the genuine cocaine sniffer, but if he or she learns that a companion has the same inclinations, or the wish “just to try it once,” then tho addict often reveals his habit, and another drug disciple is recruited. The centres of the trade are Darlinghurst and Surrey Hills. Men trafficking there are not considered by detectives to be daring, or even skilful, criminals. Many of them have been quite ordinary housebreakers who have become terrified of the and set themselves up secretly as cocaine traders, because they are thus able to make money easily withVout the constant dread that the police Twill suddenly pounce upon them in the dark. The effecting of arrests of drug- agents is one of the most difficult tasks confronting the police. , How Feuds Begin. • Usually the traders go about their evil work silently, avoiding conflict with one another and fearfully stepping from the path of the police. But when one is deliberately doublecrossed, then gang war breaks out. Almost generally the origin of this is a trader’s apparently straight-for-ward offer to a fellow trader to sell him a quantity of the drug. The first trader- assures the other that he has the drug idle on his hands, perhaps £lOO worth oi- more, not being able to dispose of it because he is being closely observed by detectives. He then inquires whether the second trader will take it at a price. The second ■ trader agrees but requests a sample. / The first trader treats this request with disdain, and remarks carelessly that if the other does not want the cocaine without .'going to the “ridiculous” extent of taking a sample, then can ■ sell it elsewhere without all that bother. So the second trader accepts the drug on the first trader’s word, takes it away, and realises that it is all boric powder, or some other compara- ).? tively worthless powder. Then gang warfare breaks loose. The tricked second trader shoots the first trader. Agents employed by both traders join in, and men are found mysteriously maimed by razors, brutally battered, or lying in dark thoroughfares inexplicably wounded by bullets. One extraordinary feature of “snow sniffing” is that the addict seeks companionship when taking it. In this way the habit differs entirely from opium smoking. On various occasions police have entered houses or flats and found organised “snow” parties in progress, the guests being in various stages of exhilaration or despondency resulting from the gradual fading of the effects of the drug. Cocaine Ousting Opium. The accepted price of “snow,” to the is 5s a. “sniff,” but agents are able to secifte much higher prices than this, profiting to the extent of * £2O or £3O for an ounce of the drug adulterated with boric acid or phenacitin. With the introduction of these fubstances the cocaine trader can lake an ounce of cocaine into as many s 200 packets. To indicate the value of the cocaine being smuggled into Australia, an agent boasted recently that he had paid £6OO cash for a single consignment. The cocaine is coming from all lands, much of it from China. The Chinese have realised that there is more money in cocaine than in opium, and consequently opium smuggling is decreasing. Many plans have been adopted to get the cocaine ashore without detection. Sometimes it is placed in belts worn against the skin, and once it . was found in the usual blue sachets, by the suspenders and sox worn Ky the smuggler. It has even been Tainted that the drug is coming ashore inUjales of merchandise, or in airtighv tins fixed firmly in containers of lard or oil. The traders; pose as decent citizens, and are ofiten seen by

the police driving in costly motorcars. Five years ago cocaine taking was practically unknown in Australia. Today it is an established and growing habit. The drug dissolves when inhaled, and the fumes, rising to the brain, produce the effect of exhilaration, making moral cowards completely fearless. The drug is also taken in the mouth by some addicts, and there are merely a few who introduce it, dissolved and diluted, with a hypodermic syringe. It is emphasised that the laws against the illicit cocaine trade should be made more severe, and that an Australian-wide police campaign should be commenced at once to check its devastating progress.