Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-03-01

fapoits out of their sleeves. Glow do thel
know exactly where to look when they havA
thousands of bales and barrels of merchandise
to examiner And how does it happen that
they always pick on the right ship and let .
hundred others pass by?"
number of self-effacing, mysterious indi-
viduals calling themselves M Wang or Nom
sieur Durand, or Signor Antoni, or Herr Spitzs
who fit about the principal European ports
could throw a Tot of light on these enigmas.
But they won't.
It is no longer a secret at least for the far
flung smuggling syndicates, that the United
States Government has established spy system
abroad to watch out for Illicit shipments to its
shores. The agents are generally retired Euro
pean police officials with long experience in
running down drug trafhckers as well as COM
plete familiarity with the local languages and
criminal elements. They can work in any guise
that serves their purpose, and If smart old
Chinese at Marseies is successful in passing
himself off drug buyer in order to get the
information he wants, Herr Spitz, or whatever
the German agent calls himself, may prefer to
work a humble bargeman on the Rhine. The
Constantnople man, let us call him Nouri
Efendi is probably high brother in the SNUG
Cling fraternity along the BoSphorus!
These dope sleuths are posted at strategic
points along the two great narcotic routes that
lead across the Atlantic to the United States.
One is the Rhine River, which the trafickerS
Switzerland, which is at the navigable head
waters of the river and where there are many
chemical factories, there is sufficient flood of
narcotics principally cocaine and heroin, pour
ing down this noble stream day and night to
subrnerge the entire world in madness. Farther
down the river the German chemical factories
at Mannheim and the other chemical towns add
their output.
For the narcotic syndicates the Rhine Is
channel par excellence. The sources of supply
are not only nearby, but there are innumerable
fleets of freight barges constantly going down
the river to the great ports of Antwerp and
Rotterdam. Any quantity of drugs can be
hidden among the barge cargoes with the COM
plicity of the boatmen, and these cargoes are
only superficially examined. Upon arrival at
the ports the stuff is hidden in the vast ware
houses, camoufaged ordinary merchandise
Up to this point there Is not the slightest danger
of discovery. From these ports some syndicates
ship the stuff to the United States inside other
goods. This Is risky for the consignee. But
most syndicates prefer to smuggle the goods
over a cargo ship, for these are not watched
like the big liners. The smugglers make q deal
with some members of the crew, generally
stokers, and in the middle of the night, prefer-
ably night when the ships officers are ashore,
they bring the stun in motorboat and pass D
through portfolio near the waters edge. The
crew slows it away, frequently under the coal,
and upon arriving at an American port they
simply follow orders in disposing of it. The
dope is almost invariably taken of at night in
a motorboat either inside or outside the harbor.
Sometimes 1t is thrown overheard in rubber
sacks which picked up by the motorboat
following the ship in.
ITO checkmate this ceaseless flow of drugs
the American agents trace the big Ship
ments by devious means. If they ever dared
they could tell some gripping stories about
working as simple bargemen on the Rhine
fleets, trailing shadows along the Antwerp and
Rotterdam waterfronts, listening to boasting
sailors IN low saloons.
A large number of important captures have
been made at New York as the result Of
whispered conversations overheard in these bars
on the Constantinople waterfront. How do the
American narcotic agents manage it? That's
their secret. An oily Levantine and stoker
sit back in far corner Of one Of these dives
late at night slipping ralli The only other
persons in the place are some rough Turkish
boatmen who apparently don't know a word Of
any language except their own The pair Of
plotters speak only in the lowest whispers but
in some strange way y certain high United
States Official in New York knows all about the
plot next dayi