BIG OPIUM HAUL

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 874, 18 January 1930, Page 16

BIG OPIUM HAUL

SENTENCED WOMAN COLLAPSES DRUG DISCLOSURES "We believe that a large trade in opium is being done between ports such as London, Liverpool and Amsterdam and South America,’’ declared a police official at Liverpool when Mary Ishbella Appleton, 36, of Kent Street, Liverpool, was found guilty of being in possession of 221 b of raw opium. The stipendiary, Mr. Stuart Deacon, stated that it was a very serious case, and the quantity of opium involved was the largest he had ever seen in the court. When sentenced to three months’ hard labour Appleton, a stoutly-built woman, collapsed with a shriek, and had to be assisted out of the dock. Mr. J. R. Bishop, prosecuting, stated that on November 3 a police officer visited the house in Kent Street, where accused lived with a Chinese, and in a suitcase beneath her bed he discovered 221 b of opium. Detective - Sergeant Wishart explained that when he called on Apple- ! ton and told hev he had reason to believe she was in possession of a suitcase which she had brought from a public-house, and which contained opium, she replied, “I have no opium,” and invited him to search the house. When witness found the suitcase beneath lier bed she told him: “It was brought here by a Chinese off the Blue Funnel steamer Sarpedon. He j is No. 1 fireman.” Later she added: "I might as well ! tell the truth. I brought it from ; the pub myself.’’ Giving evidence. Appleton stated that she was single. Ling Yon, a Chinese seaman, was tenant of the house where she lived, but he had only been home three times iu the past 18 months. About six weeks ago, a Chinese, whom she did not know, called at the house and remarked: “You go public-house. Bring one bag. I be lacking friend.” She went to the public-house, collected -The suitcase, and placed it beneath her bed. It was locked, and she did not know what it contained. Appleton admitted a previous conviction, in April, 1925, when she was fined £5 for permitting premises to be used for opium smoking. According to an expert the cost In China of 221 b of opium would "ange between £6O and £7O. The price, however, increases considerably with the transit of the drug to other countries, and by the time it reaches South America the opium would probably be worth between £4.000 and £5,000.