Evening star., 1926-04-09
LIQUOR SYNDICATE
BELIEVED BROKEN
Two Arrested Here. Valuable
Champagne Cargo and Taxi
cab Are Captured.

BY chasing and seiZing taxica h
with its two occupan and two trunks
fun of champagne. while en- route to
make a delivery to the home of a
prominent local resident last night.
police and prohibition agents believe
they have checked operations of a
prosperous and important wet" syn
dicate. with headquarters in New
York. which has been sending large
quantities of liquors into Washington
during the past three months in one
OF the most skillfully contrived
schemes for avoiding prohibition en-
forcement yet concOcted,
Even by capturing the taxicab po-
lice stopped only half the shipment
for another taXicab. with a similar
amount OF the wet" goods, evaded
the police cars. which were stationed
at Union Station to get those escort
ing the trunks when they arrived la st
night.
Gerald Murphy. chief of prohibition
agents. and Pvt. Tom Heide of the
Burlingame flying squadron made the
capture The two men arrested gave
their names as Owen Donohue. 81
years old. and William Acie Nc
|hCoiE, potH vi IDIS lSIdno, ~. Il
They were charged with transport
In violation Of the prohibition law.
Scheme Known Long Time.
The capture was premature and
failed to achieve IT'S ultimate purpose.
For months 1t has been known to
local prohibition agents that Wash
ington received shipments of cham.
payne and liquors from New York
City. where large syndicate was
operating First evidence of this sit
uation cropped up when Capt. Bur-
lingames men, working with prohibi-
ton agents, discovered that two solic-
itors were visiting prominent Wash.
ingtonians and obtaining orders for
champagne.
These orders were filled hy packing
the bottles in small steamer trunks In
that city. The trunks were brought
to this city by man and woman
Prohibition agents in New York were
tipped off to watch that angle. Un-
derground information lines were
finally hooked UP last week. with the
result that definite knowledge of the
shipment last night was relayed to
local police and prohibition men.
When the four trunks were placed
upon the flyer from New York the
local agents and police had word of it.
Plans were made here to follow
those trunks to their final destination
Three police and prohibition cars
were stationed at the Union Station
last night. some time before midnight
when the trunks and the couple es-
corting them arrived. Police watched
porters carefully carry the trunks out
from the baggage room and place
them in taxicab. At first Ii appeared
as il all the trunks would be placed in
the same cab. At the last minute.
however. the woman decided against
it. hailed another taxicab and had two
of the trunks placed therein.
Police Cars Divided.
Police cars divided for the "shad-
owing" of the taxicabs. The woman
evidently became suspicious. for
her taxi started acting as no taxi
cab carrying lady just I'M from New
York with two trunks would ever
think of acting. It. went into alleys
and back again into streets, and
weaved back and forth dizzily until
the police pursurers became confused
and befuddled, with the result that
somewhere in Washington today there
are two undetected trunks full of
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