Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-12-22
OPIUM JOINTS.
How John Chinaman Gets
His "POisOn."
"BOsS HARRIS" AND HIS "GANG.
Clever Schemes to Cheat the Govern
ment Carried On by Way Of
Victoria and Canada.
A ssociated Press Dispatches to the herald

IA ssociated Press Dispatches to the HERALDl
CHICAGO, December 2l.-An interest
ing story is printed this morning of the
operations Of an opium-smuggling gang,
one of whose leaders, Captain Durant,
so narrowly escaped from the customs
officers at Sand Rock, Mich, a week ago.
The story is that Durant and his lieuten-
ant, Charles Wertzel, are living in style
at the best hotel in Sarnia and are
lionized by the residents of that little
Canadian town. The correspondent had
long talk with them yesterday. They have
been
SMUGGLING OPIUM FOR THE LAST TWO
YEARS,
And have successfully landed hundreds
of thousands of dollars worth OF this
costly drug on the other side without
being detected. But this last conslgn-
ment they took over was discovered and
seized by government detectives and it
came near costing Durant his life. -Four
detectives waylaid him in the woods at
night, took him at great disadvantage
and tried their best to end his life by
standing ten feet away and firing twenty
shots at him in rapid succession. But,
DURANT HAS A CHARMED LIFE,
And made his escape without injury.
Everyone around Sarnia knows him to
be one of the most daring smugglers who
ever exchanged a shot with custom
house officers. They know also that he
ie one of the trusted agents of rich syn
dicste that was organized several years
ago for the express purpose OF smuggling
opium into the United States from Vic
toria. The syndicate has five millions
behind it, and is largely controlled by a
man in Victoria known as
''Boss" HARRIS.
He is immensely rich, and makes no
effort to conceal the fact that he is the
biggest smuggler in the Dominion. He
always has a large bank account here,
and he has told the cashier of one OF the
leading banks that he and his associates
had made millions out of opium. As an
illustration of the big money to be made
out of the business, he said he brought
down consignment of opium from Vic
toria to Sarnia and employed two men to
carry it across the river to Port Huron,
whencs it was shipped to California. The
men carried the drug, which was packed
n tin cans, in their coat pockets, and
rowed across the river in the regular
ferry boats. Although the customs off.
GERS are constantly stationed on the
ferries, the men who transported the
drug were not detected, and the entire
consignment was carried over in less
than week. Within four weeks from
the time the drug left Victoria by. this
circuitous route, It was safely delivered
at San Francisco. The United States
Government was defrauded out Of
OVER 100000 OF DUTIES,
And "Boss" Harris pocketed $50. 900 for
his share of the profits.
Another active member of Harris
gang operates under the assumed name
Of Spencer. He attends to shipping the
goods from Victoria. A rich San Fran
cisco merchant is said to be prominently
identified with the syndicate. This man
was for many years in the employ of the
United States Government as an inter-
prefer. Another member is Toronto
Chinaman, and others of San Francisco
comprise the rest of the syndicate. Be.
sides these there are
LARGE NUMBER OF AGENTS,
Whose duty it is to look after the con-
signments after they leave Victoria,
showing them from one point to another
in the Dominion. transporting them over
the border and then reshipping them
across the States to California, covering
up their tracks in such clever manner
as to successfully elude the vigilance of
the custom officers. The value of the
combined product of the factory in Brit
ish Columbia, the headquarters of the
Harris gang, is estimated at $1,000, 900
per annum and of this more than 80 per
cent. goes to the United States. 1t is
believed that less than 10 per cent. of it
passed through the Custom House. The
gang operates not only at Sarnia, but all
along the northern border of the United
States.