HIDDEN DRUGS.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 279, 24 November 1928, Page 3 (Supplement)

HIDDEN DRUGS.

WILES OF TRAFFICKERS. DARING METHODS EXPOSED. That section of the Paris police known as the "brigade mondaino" has had an exceptionally busy time rounding .up the traflickers in noxious drugs and a certain class of individuals, who, calling themselves "guide interpreters," had conceived a very daring method of robbing tourists.

Not all the arrests of the traffickers in "coco" are reported in the newspapers, but those effected lately are particularly interesting by reason of the ruses that these merchants adopted for concealing the drug. From eight to ten o'clock at night there is a constant stream of taxicabs lip the Rue Clichy and the Hue Blanche, and many of their occupants are proceeding to- those establishments which abound on the lower side of the two boulevards which intersect Montmartre.

Heavy curtains at the windows defeat prying eyes. There is an air of mystery about these places, but if you listen you can hear sounds of revelry. They are not cabarets, these establishments, hut bars of a special kind, and the customers are there not entirely for the purpose of drinking; business is done —the buying and selling of small packets of cocaine. Outside, .men may be seen, apparently taking an evening walk. They are detectives, whose business it is to catch the traffickers. For weeks the suspected vendors are watched, and clever hauls have been made. A well-dressed young man was arrested' in the Rue Fontaine and searched, but nothing was found upon him. His stick, however, attracted the detective. It was broken; it was hollow and was filled with the White powder. This man was known to have a close friend, a cyclist, who was watched in turn. The cyclist was pedalling up the street. He was stopped and taken to the police station. But there was nothing in his pockets. It occurred to the detectives to examine his bicycle. It was a very fruitful examination, for in the framework was hidden cocaine worth 5000 Another trafficker had concealed the drug in the lining of his hat. The detectives thought they might as well examine his shoes. The heels were ripped off, and lo and behold, the "snow" appeared. The heels were hollow and could be easily detached. His Butterfly Tie. But more ingenious still was the method adopted by a young man who had remained faithful to the butterfly tie which was affected by Bohemians and even certain statesmen \jars ago. The tie has ample folds, and In that worn by this young man the detectives found three packets of cocaine. Detectives frequent these bars I have indicated in the guise of customers. The trafficker!--, always on the alert, talk in a jargon of their own, and in low tones, so that it is difficult for the detectives to seize the drift of the conversation. But very often gestures are as significant as

words. , . ~ The other evening a man drew a leather cigarette case from his pocket. It was tilled with what seemed to he cigarettes

of the ordinary "caporal" variety. The case was offered to a young woman, beautiful and well dressed. There was that in her eyes, however, which convinced the watchful-detective that she was addicted to the drug. He snatched the case, and, breaking one of the cigarettes in two, found that it contained cocaine. If, moved by curiosity, you loiter at the Place de I'Opera, or at the Madeleine, after dinner of an evening, you are certain to be accosted, by men who will offer to take you to see the' exceptional sight* of Paris by night. Such sights exist simply for tourists who arc willing to pay for unhealthy sensations, and are taken to them by men who are supposed to be "guide interpreters," against whom M. Chiappe, the Prefect of Police, is waging a relentless war. Lately the police have received numerous complaints from foreign tourists, among them Englishmen and Americans, of having been relieved of their money by these -sj-ealled guides to the night sights. This is what happened. The tourists listened to the stories, told to them in broken English, of the great scenes, exceptional and sensational,, that could be

witnessed at very little cost on both sides of the Seine—Montmartre and Mont; palliasse.

"You will see things that you will remember for the rest of your lives; you must not think of leaving Paris without seeing them"—this was the bait held out to the simple and confiding tourists, who could not speak a word of French. . Robbed in a Hotel. The guides, working in groups, made it their business to take parties of four. Taxicabs would be hailed, but they did not even get as far as the famous cafe on the Boulevard Montparnasse, wdiere Trotskv used to drink his beer and dream of the Russian revolution. They stopped at an hotel in a street between the Seine and the Boulevard St. Germain, unloaded their fares and disappeared. There were no sights to be seen in that hotel. As soon as the unsuspecting tourists were bundled into a room, they were robbed of their money and valuables. These "guides to the.night sights" took the pitcher to the well once too often. They were on the point of collecting another party of boobies when they were arrested.