ALLEGED TRAFFIC IN DRUGS

Taranaki Daily News, 10 April 1928, Page 6

ALLEGED TRAFFIC IN DRUGS

e 75 PERSONS STAND TRIAL. Paris, March 25. • After four years of preparation, the trial has at last been opened of 75 per- ( sons, including fashionable women, aetJ resses, artists, 18 doctors and five , chemists, for illicitly trafficking in drugs, particularly cocaine. Originally f 112 persons were arrested, but 15 have since died and others have been releas- , ed for various reasons. The Court could only accommodate 50 of the accused, and the remainder , will come up for trial later. Among i the accused is an 86-year-old doctor. Only 28 of the accused are charged ■ with taking drugs. The others are charged with trafficking in them. The usual procedure was to obtain a genuine doctor’s certificate for a fictitious malady. In some cases, the doctor had not seen the patient for two years, but lie gave the orders whenever he was asked. In other instances, prescriptions were forged, and even chemists’ diplomas were forged. Experts examined 13,000 documents laboriously in order to separate forgeries from genuine documents. This necessitated foreign inquiries. The case is expected to last several weeks, but the authorities hope that, before it concludes, they will track down the scandal to its source. It is believed that the drug gang has its headquarters in Montmartre. Fourteen, leading, connsei have been briaf"*’