TRAFFIC IN DRUGS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 48, Issue 156, 13 April 1928, Page 7

TRAFFIC IN DRUGS.

GREAT FRENCH TRIAL. SEVENTY-FIVE ACCUSED. PARIS, March 28. After four years of preparation, the trial has at last been opened of 75 persons, including fashionable women, actresses, artists, 18 doctors and five chemists, for illicitly trafficking in drugs, particularly cocaine. Originally 112 persons were arrested, hut 1,5 have since died and others have been released for various reasons.. The Court could only accommodate 50 of the accused' and the remainder will come up for trial later. Among the accused is an 86-year-old doctor. Only 28 of the accused are charged with taking drugs. The others are charged with trafficking in them. The usual procedure was to obtain a genuine doctor’s certificate for a fictitious malady. In some cases the doctor had not seen the patient for two years, but he gave the orders whenever he was asked. In other instances, prescriptions were forged, and even chemists’ diplomas were forged. Experts examined 13,000 documents labouriously in order to separate forgeries from genuine documents. This necessitated foreign inquiries. The case is expected to last several weeks, but the authorities hope that, before it concludes, they will track down the scandal to its source. It is believed that the drug gang has its headquarters in Montmartre. Fourteen leading counsels have been brieied.