IMPORTANT CUSTOMS SEIZURES.

Auckland Star, Volume XII, Issue 3546, 17 December 1881, Page 2

IMPORTANT CUSTOMS SEIZURES.

JDuuiNO yesterday afternoon and to-day people have been surprised to observe Cus-tom-house ofiieersi, accompanied by policel men, making a tour of the city and suburbs anil visiting, tlic various tobacconists and hotclkcepcrs' premises. Their stay at some of these wns surprisingly Ion;;, and as they iv many instances came away loaded with cigars their mysterious proceedingH excited considerable attention. Drnj'B loaded with beer casks and cigar oases, with policemen or Customs olliciala mounted oil the top, were rtlso seen making their way at intervals to the renr of the post-office buildings, nml in due time it became noised abroad thill a largo number of seizures of unstamped dutiable jjomls of the nature referred to had ucen made. One of our representatives waited on the Collector of Customs regardinj,' the operations of die ollieials, but that gentleman, probably imagining that it had been kept profoundly secret, declined to communicate anything. Our reporter accordingly made a tour round the city on his own account, anil wo present our readers with the result of his investigations. The. oilicial visit of inspection was made by Mr. 11. Parker (accompanied by Constable Kelly) in City West and by Mr. Dignan (accompanied by Coin-table Graham) in City Bast. It was not a preconcerted raid, but tlio monthly tour rendered necessary by the provisions of the Beer Act. Both gentlemen appeared to have lterformcd their duties very successfully, because not only have they seized unstamped beer, but also cigars which do not bear the impress (if the Government stamp. The most important haul was between 60 and 70 boxes of cigars from Brown & IJarrett's store, Elliott-street, and they were conveyed tn the Customs cellars and stored there. In addition to these, there Were taken nine boxes of cigars from Abbott's United Service Hotel; 160 cigars from Dunninghani & Kina's Governor Browne Jlote); two boxes of cigars from Codliu's Koyal Mail Hotel; three boxes cigars from Mr. Slater's shop, Wcllcsloystreet; two hocshcadH beer from Mr. iinijihy's St;tr Hotel, Newton; parcel <>! cigars from Mr Marriott's shop, Pnrnell; /our oi.sk'H of )>ccr /roil) Coombes' Foresters' Anns Hotel, Albert-slreet; one box of cigars from C. l f. Mann's Kising Sun Hotel, Newton. Seizures of casks and beer have also been made at the Junction Hotel (Ellis), Onehunga ; Masonic Hotel (Whitaker), I'rinces-Btreet; York Hotel (Davidson), Symonda-street; Newmarket Hotel (Smith)' Newmarket. There arc several other cases, and the whole will probably be brought before the Resident Magistrate next week. The cause of seizure is the absence of the stamp required by the Act; it remains, however, to be shewn in eacii case why the Btatnp was missing. In most instances the boxes of cigars were on the shop shelves in the regular way, and the possessors were ignorant that a stamp was necessary. The oilicial stamp on cmar boxes is a rubber brand, not an adhesive stamp.