Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1889-01-03
OPIUM SMUGGLING GANG
An Interesting Story OF Their Opera
tons.
Boss Harris Growing Rich on the
Profits-s5,000,000 a Year
Cleared blythe
Syndicate.

Capt. Durant, so narrowly escaped from
the customs officers as Sand Beach, Mich.
| week ago. Tbs correspondent saws
Darant and his lieutenant Chas. Weitzel,
are living in style at the best hotel at
Sarnia aud are lionized by the residents
of that little Canadian town. The cor
respondent had long talk with them
recently. They have been smuggling
opium for the last two years and have
successfully landed hundreds of thou.
sands of dollars worth of the eostly drug
! on the other side without being detected
But this last consignment they took over
was discovered and seized by government
detectives and il came near costing Capt.
Durant his life.
-Four detectives waylaid him in the
woods at night, took him at great dis
advantage, aud tried their best to end his
life by standing ten feet away and firing
twenty shots az him in rapid succession.
But Capt. Durant has a charmed life and
he made his escape without injury. Just
how Capt. Dursht became a smuggler,
says the correspon dent, is not known
and he will not tell. In fact, he at first
vigorously denied that he had ever en-.
| ed in such dangerous and advent
/
saying he had never seen an ounce of
opium in his life and if he had ever had
anything to do with Transporting large
quantities of the drug In packages across
the border it was his own personal bust
ness. One thing he was sHrs of, and that
was that although bo had once been ar
| rested for smuggling and acquitted for
lack of evidence, ne could openly defy
| the Government officers to prove him
| guilty. But every one around Sarnia
knows him to be one of the most daring
smugglers who ever exchanged shots with
CUSTOM house officers. They also know
| that he is one of the trusted agents of .
rich syndicate that was organized several
! years ago for the express purpose of
smuggling opium into the United States
from the manufactures at Victoria, B. G.
The syndicate has $500O,000 behind it
and is largely controlled by G. j. Josiyn
of Victoria.
/ Joslyn, among Che smugglers is 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 Sarnis and
employed two men to carry it across the
river to Port Huron, whence it was ship
! ped 20 California. The men carried the
drug, which was packed in tin cans, in
their coal pockets ana rode aoross the
river on the regular passenger ferry.
boate. Although customs officers ara
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 creuitous route
it was safely delivered at San Francisco.
The United States Government was de-
frauded out OF 100000 duties and "Boss"
Harris pocketed $4,000 as mis- share of
the profits. Outside of money risks he
takes no chances That il, while he Is
wiling to risk the danger of having his
valuable cOnsignments confiscated, he
never ventures across ,he border for he
knows that big price has been put up
on his head.
People here like him very much, for
he spends his money freely among them.
Almost any of them are ready and will
ing at Sill times to render him ass.starca
in secreting contraband goods, so az TO
throw the detectives of the track, and he
pays we'll for their services.
Another active member of the Harris
gang, as Mr.. Joslyn's syndicate of ex-
pert opiurl sDlugglsrs is generally called,
operates lnder the name of Spencer. He
attends 20 shipping the goods from VIC
toria. rich San Francisco merchant is
said to be prominently identified with the
syndicate, a man for many years in the
i'm pioy OF the United States Government
as an interpreter of another member A
Toronto Chinaman and Opium Pete" OF
San Francisco com prise the rest of the
syndicate. Beside these there are
large number OF az snis, whose duty il is
to look after the consignments after they
leave Victoria, showing them from one
point 20 another in the Dominion, trans
porting them over the border, and then
reshipping across the state to Cslifor
mia, covering up their tracks in such a
clever manner as to successfully elude
the vigilance of the costoms officers.
Chief among the agents are Capt. Durant
and the Wetzel brothers. Charles and
George. Both of the Weitzel boys are
now liz Sarnia, and together with Capt.
Durant are awaiting Instructions from
Boss Harris who has been informed
by telegraph of the selznre of his goods
last week
The value of the combined product of
the factories in British Columbia, the
headquarters of the Harris gang, is e.
timated at S.. 600 600, per snuum, and of
this more then 80 per cent. goes TO the
/ United States. II IL believed tat less
| than 10 per cent. of it passes through the
custom hoases. The gang operates not
| ouly at Sarina but All along be Northern
/ boundary OF the United safes as we'll
/ Capt. Dursnt told the cores pondent the
story of his meeting ard fight win the
. customs oft 'ers in the Michigan woods.
I L did rot differ materially from that al
ready related By the officers. he claims
the ambush was pot TO murder bin and
said he is not through with the men con
cerued in it yet. He thinks, however,
+ that he will be more comfortable on the
/ Canadian size Of The river than Ia the
states for some time 10 come.