OPIUM HUNTING.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 81865, 15 October 1906, Page 4

OPIUM HUNTING.

EFFECTS OF THE PROHIBITION ACT. WELLINGTON EXPERIENCE. The strict measutcs which arc being tak«n to pi event the importation oi opium into the country appear to bi having the de>ired effect s<> far as Wellington is concerned, says the ■'Post." A sharp outlook is kept lor persons who endeavor to pass the drug through and several men who are suspected of being anxious to deal ;n opium if the opportunity presents itself are constantly, but unobtrusively kept under the eye of Customhouse officials.

The powers vested in the Customs officials have a wide range, and provide for the searching of any ship or suspected person Enquiries made by a representative of the "Post" go ;o show that although opium-smoking still goes on secretly in certain quarters of Wellington it is not indulged •n to an alarming extent, and is still confined strictly to aliens. Since the nttoduction of the Opium Prohibi--ion Act of 1001 and up to September joth Ust thciy have been twenfly}•ight prosecutions in Wellington against persons who had opium in their ,>o3ses>ion. Last year yielded fifteen jf the cases, igoj and 1904 recording >nly two each During the nine jiontha of the present year only two cases have been brought. At the iame time no effort has been spared .0 bring offenders to justice. Out if the total twenty-eight prosecutions inly three have been against Europeans. The 1904, HJOS and t(jo6 figures are al! against Chinamen. The authorities have received assistance from the Magistrates, severe Lines having been inflicted in every .)r secution except one, when the case .vas dismissed The opium traffic is idmittedly a difficult matter to deal vith, and it is said to be almost imwssiblc to prohibit it entirely, but so tar as the enquiries go every effort appears to be made to c->pc with it is it passes over the wharves. Here tvould-be smugglers have to run the gauntlet of Customs officers and vatchmen.

The smuggler who works the harbor when opium could be passed over he side of the vessel lying the stream nto a smaller boat has a better ;hance. It is no uncommon thing "or a vessel with a crew comprising rom 20 to 30 Chinamen to cumo into he stream for days. These boats ire inspected on arrival, but it is not ■ difficult matter to secrete a stock if opium in a ship and after the Cu»oms officers pass her she is open to my one who likes to put to in a boat \n understanding between the crew ind some one ashore could easily V irranged and the drug could be •muggled ashore and landed without nuch fear of detection. This point vas raised by the reporter during his ■nquiries, and was met by a suggesion that a water police service would je the only means of preventing such 1 style of trading. Crews of vessels triiving from oversea ports are cornjelled to furnish to the Customs a ist of everything they possess, but jpium or other prohibited goods never find a place in the inventory supplied.

The better class of Chine-e residnts in Wellington has taken a proninent part in the suppression of the mportation of the drug. It is not in uncommon thing for a Chinaman ." inform the authorities that a counryman has a supply of opium in a particular house, or that a certain learner on the coast intends to land i quantity of the drug at, say, Auckand. Gisbome or Wellington. Somelimets the information proves to be :orrect,but more often nothing comes if the close search which inevitably .ollows The drug is sometimes secured in its natural state as the re>ult of raids on dens, but more often Aflat is known as Yen She, oncesmoked opium, rewards the sarch of he opium hunter. Some interesting itories are occasionally told <f the ■chemes evolved in the brains of the Ch'namen f»r defeating the laws of he country. One going the rounds ,f the press pertains to a wily Ceies■ial who over-reached himself. The alien landed from an ocean-going steamer, his sole luggage being a large signboard, which aroused the •uspicion of a Customs officer, who attacked the board with an augur. The signboard was found to f>e composed of thin boards joined in a frame; between the boards were a number of neatly packed tins of opium. The usually bland countenance of the Chinaman worked feelingly during the boring operations, and run the whole gamut of emotions when the board and its contents were confiscated.

TV Collector of Customs. Mr D. Johnson, who has taken an active part in the suppression of the importation of opium, and Chinamen who deal in the drug, considers that so far as Wellington is concerned the opium traffic is just about oppressed, but at the same time his department stil keeps a sharp look-out. It is a difficult task to stop the illicit trade entirely, on account of the drug lending itself to smuggling by reason of the small space a quantity of it can be stowed in. Since the Australian law has been revised to prohibit the importation of the drug, there are riot such great facilities for bringing it to New Zealand. The old-time opium dens of the city are now, says Mr Johnßon, practically wiped out.