Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1888-12-21
MILLIONS BEHIND 1T.


The Great Harris Gang Of Opium
Smugglers and their Operations.
CHICAGO, Dec. Alan interesting story b
printed this morning Of the operations Of the
opium-smuggling gang, one Of whose lsadsrs,
Capt Durant % narrowly escaped from the
customs oficers st sand Beach. Mich, q week
ago. The correspondent, writing from sarnia,
says Durant and his lieutenant Chas. weitzen
are living in style at the best hotel in sArnia,
and are honized BY the residents Of that little
Canadian town The correspondent had long
talk with them yesterday. They have been
smuggling opium for two years, and have suc-
cessfully landed hundreds OF thousands Of dol-
lars worth Of the costly drug on this side With
out being detected But the last consignment
they brought over was discovered and seissd
by government detectives, and IL came near
costing Capt Durant his life. -Four detectives
great disadvantage, and tried their best 10
end his life by standing q few feet away ane
But
puRANT Has A CHARMED LIE,
and he made his escape without injury.
Durant at first vigorously denied that hs
had ever engaged in smuggling. Finally he
qualified his denial by saying that he had never
seen an ounce OF opium in his life, and IL ho
had ever had anything TO do with Transporting
large quantities Of the drug across the border
II was his own personal business One thing
he was sure of and that was that, although he
had once been arrested for smuggling and &C.
quilted for lack of evidence, he could openly
defy the government officers 20 prove him
guilty. But every one around Sarnia knows
him to be one Of the most daring smugglers
who ever exchanged shots with custom-houss
officers. They know also that he is one of the
trusted agents Of
RICH sMUeoLrSe SYNDICATE
that was organized several years ago for the
exurass rurpooa NJ r,;rx, ;nx, A.
United States from the manufactures ct Vie.
toria, b. c. The syndicate has S5, ,000, 900 be-
hind II andis largely controlled by c. J. Joslyn,
OF Victoria. Joslyn, among the smugglers, 10
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 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 a consignment Of opium
from Victoria to Sarnia and employed two
men to carry IL across the river to Port Huron,
whence it was shipped to California. The men
carried the drug, which was packed in tin cans,
In their coat pockets and rode across the river
on the regular passenger ferry boats. Al
though customs officers are constantly stationed
on the ferries, the men who transported the
drug were not detected, and the entire con-
signment was carried over in less than week
Within four weeks from the time the drug left
victoria by this circuitous route il was safelf
delivered at San Francisco. The United States
government was
DEFRAuDED OF OVER 100000 DUTIES,
and "Boss" Harris pocketed $4,000 for his
share of the profits. Outside Of a money risk,
he takes no chances. That il. while he is will
ing to risk the danger of having his valuable
consignments confscated, he never ventures
across the border, for he knows that big
price has been put upon his head. People here
like him very much, for he spends his money
freely among them. Almost any Of them are
ready and willing at all times 10 render him as
sistance in secreting contraband goods so as TO
throw the detectives of the track, and he pays
well for their services.
Another active member Of the Harris gang, "
as Mr.. Joslyn's syndicate of expert opium
smugglers is generally called, operated under
the assumed name of Spencer he attends TO
shipping the goods from Victoria. A rich San
Francisco merchant is said TO be prominently
identified with the syndicate. man for
YEARS IN THE EMPLOY OF THE Q. 9. GOVERNMENT
as an interpreter is another member A To-
ronto Chinaman and "Opium Pete" of San
Francisco, comprise the rest Of the syndicate.
Besides these there are a large number OF
agents whose duty il is to look after the con-
signments after they leave Victoria. showing
them from one point to another in the domin-
ion. transporting them over the border, and
then reshipping across the states to California,
covering up their tracks in such a clever man.
ner as to successfully elude the vigilance Of
the customs officers. Chief among the agents
are Captain Durant and the Weitzell brothers,
Charles and George. Both Of the weitzeli
brothers are now in Sarnia. and, together with
Capt. Durant, are awaiting instructions from
Boss" Harris. who has been informed by tele-
graph Of the seizure of his goods last week.
The value of the combined product Of the
factories in British Columbia, the headquarters
of the Harris gang, is estimated at 5000 600
per annum, and Of this more than 80 per cent
goes TO the United States. II is believed that
less than 10 per cent of il passes through the
customs houses. The gang operates not only at
Sarnia, but all along the northern border Of
the United States as well
Capt. Durant told the correspondent the
story of his meeting and fight with the cus-
toms officers in the Michigan woods. II did
not differ materially from that already related
by the officers. He claims the ambush was Q
plot 10 murder him. and said he is not through
with the men concerned in il yet. He thinks,
however, that he will be more comfortable on
the Canadian side of the river than in the
states for some time to come.