RAID ON A CHINESE SHOP.

Auckland Star, Volume XVIII, Issue 152, 30 June 1887, Page 5

RAID ON A CHINESE SHOP.

Acting on information received, Detective Hughes,' accompanied" by Sergeant Prafcfc, made a raid last" evening on a grocery store n Wakefield-street kept by. a Chinaman named Ah Chee, and seized 12 cases of Chinese brandy - and other varieties of spirituous- liquid dear to. the. Celestial palate. Ah Chee's shop has for a long time been a rendezvous for his compatriots, and it has-been an open secret that opiumsmoking and fan-tan' were amongst the Amusements provided by Ah Chee for his almond-eyed patrons. When the proprietor had recovered from the surprise caused by the descent of the police, he explained that the liquor was Chinese wine, and- was made from the decoction of -a root. He stated that he had received it from Sydney, that it had .passed through t"he?Customs in the' ordinary manner, and that he had paid os per gallon duly on it. In a back room Detective Hughes found an opium den—beds, pipes and all the other ■requisites complete, while down stairs was an apartment apparently used as a gamingroom, as "there were a number of faii-tan counters, etc., lying about. The bottles are valued at 4s 2d each.