, 1888-12-22
erowlna Wealthy by Fraud.

CHICAGO, Dec. 2l.-An interesting
story is printed this morning of the ope-
rations of IN opium smuggling gang, one
of whose leaders, Capt. Durant, 80 mar
rowly escaped from the customs officers at
Sand Beach, Mich, a week ago. The
correspondent says Durant and his lieu
tenant, Charles Weitzel. are living in style
at the best hotel in Sarnia and are lion
lied by the residents OF that little Cana
dian town. The correspondent had a
long talk with them yesterday. They
have been smuggling opium Tor the last
two years and have successfully landed
hundreds of thousands of dollars worth Of
the costly drug on the other side without
being detected. The last consignment
they took over was discovered and seized
by the government detectives, and it came
neal costing Durant his lite.
-Four detectives waylaid him in the
woods at night, took him at great disad-
vantage and tried their best to end his
life by standing ten feet away and firing
twenty shots into 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
Tue LuOSl udIluR CuluEBttlS WIN eNGT tA-
changed shots with custom house officers.
They know also that he is one of the
most trusted agents of a rich syndicate
that was organized several years ago for
the express purpose of smuggling opium
into the United States from Victoria. The
syndicate has SIS. 900, 900 behind it and is
largely controlled by a man in Victoria
known as Boss" Harris. He is i'm
mensly rich and makes no effort to con-
ceal the fact that he is the biggest SNUG
gler in the Dominion. He always has a
large bank account here and he has told
the cashier of one of the leading banks
that ht and his associates have 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 mn to carry it 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 road across the river on
the regular passenger ferrybDats. Al
though the customs officers are constantly
stationed on the ferries, the men who
transported the drug were not d. tected,
and the entire consignment was carried
over in less than a week. Within four
weeks from the time the drug left Vic;o
ria. by this circuitous route it was safely
delivered at San Francisco.
The United States government was de.
frauded out of over 100000 in duties
and Boss Harris pOcketed $50. 900 for
his share of the profits. Another active
member of the Harris gang operates under
the assumed name of Spencer. He at
tended to shipping the goods from Vic.
toria. A rich San Fraurisco merchant is
said to have prominently identified him
self with the syndicate. a msn for many
years in the employ of the United Stntes
government as interpreter is another
member. A Toronto Chinaman and
Opium Pete" of San Francisco comprise
the rest of the syndicate.
Besides these there are n large number
of agents whose duty it is to look after
consignmt nts AFTER they leave Victoria,
showing them from one point to another
in the Dominion, Transporting them over
the border and then re%shipping across the
states to California. covering up their
tracks in such a clever manner as to sue.
cessfully elude the vigilance of the Gus.
toms officers. The value of the com
bined product of the factories in British
Columbia, the headquarters of the Harris
gang, is estimated at $1,000, 600 per an
num-, and of this more than 30 per
cent goes to the United States. 1t is be-
lieved that less than 10 per cent of it
passes through the custom houses The
gang operates not only at Sarnia but all
along the northern border of the United
States.