Perth Amboy evening news., 1920-11-30
THE HASKIN LETTER
THE PURSUIT OF THE DoPE
nv Frederic j. Haskin.

The state Of California has recently
increased its force of inspectors to
meet the emergency.
The other day great excitement
was caused by the arrest of two
leading members of what Ia thought
to be an international gang engaged
in the smuggling and dispensing of
dope. They were found living in
quiet grandeur at a fashionable no.
tel, with every appearance of digni-
fed responsibility. They presented
charges. Unfortunately, however,
they had neglected to dispose of a
couple of trunk checks in their pos
session. These checks we're for two
trunks, one dispatched from San
Francisco to Chicago. and the other
to Boise, Idaho, and each containing
thousands of dollars worth of OPT
UNI. Further investigation showed
them to be in c~onnivance with a sus-
pected Chinaman, the operator Of an
opium joint, whose place was raided.
The chasing of narcotic drug ped.
dlers is the most difficult kind of
criminal detection work. Often 1t is
also the most thankless task, be-
cause only the city authorities
are interested in prosecuting them.
The people who are the VIC
tins have no such interest and often
conspire to obtain a peddler's release
once he Is in prison. Very seldom,
moreover. a a drug addict be In
duced to give any Information con
corning the source OF his dope
supply.
1.-THE man who has had his pocket
picked, the storekeeper whose store
has been robbed, the citizen whose
head has been broken by a footpad,
the man whose health has been in
jured with a bullet, all Of them are
willing to furnish aid in securing the
arrest OF the guilty party or parties"
declared Louis Zeh, secretary Of the
Board of Pharmacy the other day.
but the drug user, though the gull
ty party is robbing him of his very
life. Is unwilling to see him put
where he belongs-in jail"
Drug Users Help.
Nevertheless, in answer to the ap-
peals of the Board of Pharmacy for
information regarding peddlers.
some important tips were received
from drug addicts who professed a
sincere desire to overcome the habit
of drug-using. In fact, the tips were
SO significant that the board recently
AeLA tihS d00CA " tAAd
with the cooperation Of the local
police and Federal officials, the ped.
ding of narcotics In San Francisco
will soon become an activity too dan
gerous I've for the iron-headed
band of trafickers now at large.
I'VE are going to clean them UP or
drive them out of business 1t said.
One of the tips received by the
board Was from an ex-drug peddler
himself.
II have read with interest in the
paper that they want to get the
higher-ups," it read. well, they
have got to go far. 1 have sold lots
of 1t and I have finally quit. But I
wholesaled 1t, never peddled 1t on
the streets. I got mine from the Japs
in Seattle. They have got enough
there to put two statesNt to sleep.
"The port of Seattle is a bigger
importing point than San Francisco.
Give the government officials the tip
that the dope is sent over to Japan
and is then reshipped to the United
States = Z"
The existence of an opium ring Is
nothing new in San Francisco. 1t is
merely the revival of an evil which
has sprung up every time a heavy re
has sprug up every time a heavy re-
striction has been placed upon the
importation of narcotic drugs. In
spite of what the drug peddler said
about Seattle, San Francisco, which
is the port of entry for most steam
ers from the Orient, has the distinc.
ton of being the place selected by
the smugglers as their basis of oper-
ations. 1t is always deluged with
narcotic drugs, and it is always try
ing frantically to get rid of them.
Thus the records of the local GUS
toms office show that a powerful
opium ring was operating in 1909
and 1910 after President Roosevelt
signed a bill prohibiting the impor-
tation Of smoking opium into this
country. And 20 years before that,
when a sudden popular agitation
rose against narcotic drugs, another
with the customs officials.
Since the passing Of the Harrison
Anti-Narcotic law, several rings
have come into existence and gone
out again. But trained by long ex-
~perience the authorities are now well
equipped for their work and the pro-
cess of extinction is becoming more
and expert. The customs on
Gals have learned to search every
nook and Granny of a vessel for
drugs; to inspect every sailor and
mechanic employed on its decks, to
take all OF its furniture apart, and
still to be perfectly sure that opium
Is hidden somewhere in the near vi
cinity of their activities.
Where They Hide It.
Opium has been found in coal
bunkers. in the engines of the yes
- H. IT, As-- t. h>vl~r- ~Alyo
and even In pianos and In the ships
siren. Sometimes it has been discov-
cred behind false paneling and un
| der staircases and concealed in hol-
low beams. One large shipment oil
| over a thousand tins was taken from
nine large, Theoretically. sealed cyl
inders in the water tanks of a large
| ocean liner. Opium users, who in
| clude the addicts Of such drugs al
| morphine and heroin containing
| opium, are unable to get along with
out their dope, and are willing to pay
any price for 1t; hence, the snug
Cling Of the drug. If successful. 10 an
enormously profitable undertaking
1t is merely a question of thinking o
a place to hide it, which has never
been thought Of before.
There is. however, another, and II
the end more fatal, method of com
batting opium rings. and that !
through their victims-the drug ad
diets. In recent years. it has become
commonly understood that the vic
Tins of the drug habit are sick PEG
Pile, and not necessarily "dop
fiends." Cities have become awar'
of their responsibility to these up
fortunates, and no longer put then
in Jail, but in hospitals. A few cities
which have tackled the problem i
an especially vigorous manner. hav