Rising Tide Of Dope In U.S.A.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 208, 3 September 1938, Page 8 (Supplement)

Rising Tide Of Dope In U.S.A.

A \uTj Euraßian 9irl, Molly Heiyo Ma BtCP , Ped ° ff the weTtoT ? L ° S A , nge,e# the Customs House A Custom, offica! „|i pped . knit. l" ®. h f , ' nin ? of her trunk. A out ° W^,te P ° wder spilled Rfroin, the world's most treacherous narcotic! There were 541b of it. Over "■ million dollars' worth. Molly Wendt wn* arrested, examined, •in rushed under heavy secret guard toi the Rosslyn Hotel, where she had previously reserved her suite. A stronglyarmed police matron was placed in her mom to watch her. Lnde,-cover men "ore stationed in the lobbies. The streets outside the hotel were patrolled by G-men armed to the teeth. All of them were waiting to arrest the man or woman who came to contact Molly Wendt. Their vigilance was wasted. The enemy * superior organisation gave them no chance. Nobody came. Four days after her arrest Molly Wendt walked into the bathroom of her suite, locked the door, climbed out of the window, walked down two floors of the fire escape, climbed in through another window, walked to the elevators, and went down to the ground level. Carelessly she passed through the lobby, past the reception desk, and out to the street in front of the greatest number of men the Los Angeles police had ever set to watch one person. Unmolested she hailed a taxi, drove to thairport, booked a flight to New York and disappeared. Wires hummed. The police broadcast a nation-wide description of her. For more than two months she evaded the moat meticulous search. Then a suspicious Federal ag«nt, solely on a hunch, Investigated the passport of a young Chinese girl boarding a German liner sailing for New York.

The passport was in the name of -Maria Wong. the daughter of a high Chinese official, formerly GovernorGeneral of ribet. Yet no denial that the pa**port of Molly Wendt wiw a palpable forgery came from the Chinese Legation, for that matter, a confirmation. Molly Wendt was returned to Los Angeles, indicted and convicted for hav ing heroin in her possession. Her defence was disregarded because it. could not bo corroborated. Six months before she had been a nurse in the Shanghai Hospital. Her

By-

Authorities Helpless Against The Power Of "The Syndicate "

H. Britton Lozan CP

Copyright

superior, Dr. Stev, the superintendent, ( introduced her to a Mr. Rosendeal, who r wanted a nurse to accompany an in , valid woman to America. Molly Wend' accepted and sailed for Kobe, Japan, to meet her patient. At I\olr. she received a letter ordering her to pick tip two trunks from the express otlice an;' go to Yokohama, where her patient ha I gone. In \ ok oh a in a she received another letter saying that her patient Intel not been able to wait and had started for Los Angeles. She was to follow and register at the Rosslyn Hotel. Superintendent Was Found Dead She followed her instructions and was arrested, escaped and was arrested asain. When the police cabled Shanghai for confirmation they received the reply: "Stey found dead in vacant lot. Cannot determine whether murder or suicide. Rosendeal unknown; may be Laffelholz Brandstatter." Laffelholz Brandstatter! A Polish adventurer, one of the most astute and famous of present-day international smugglers. The police got on hie trail, caught up with him on a ship sailing from New York to Havana. Dead by hanging! Murder or suicide? Molly Wendt heard of the deaths ot Dr. Stey and Brandstatter in Court. She mysteriously collapsed. The doctors called her condition tuberculosis of the kidneys, and pronounced sentence of death. Yet she lived. Then there were two dead men and a girl mysteriously dying. Confused dispatches from Shanghai and a tangled trail. Then tip from the slums and dark alleys of the nation, creeping by devious ways until it reached the high officials and the Court in which Molly Wendt was being tried, came the startling command: "Deport Molly Wendt!" Acting on that phrase, and previous evidence, to support his theories, Secretary of Treasury Morgenthau sent three efficient coastguard cutters and a small army of armoured ears to the Pacific Coast with orders to clamp down on the increasing dope traffic. For months the Department had suspected the existence of an international dope syndicate operating exclusively

The inspector whistled with astonishment. turned and run after the old Chinaman shuffling off • the pier. He grabbed the pail, spilled the peanuts on the ground. The sides and bottom of the pail were false. Underneath were closelv-packed rubberised silk bags ot cocaine. Xine thousand dollars' worth. I wo duys latei "Peanut John" died mysteriously in prison after 30 years of profitable smuggling for the syndicate. That is the syndicate's principle. Dead men tell 110 tales. Wholesale murder is nothing new in the United States; there is a clique of men operating in Xew York and Chicago that will stop ot nothing. They are jealous of their position in crime, and will do anything to maintain the artificially high prices of narcotics.' even to giving the police information about other dope rings operating in opposition. It is when this information is received that the authorities score their isolated successes. Kdw<ird K. Wygant was a ship's barber who attempted to bring into Los Angeles a carved sandalwood box filled with Chinese curios. Acting on a tip ( iistoms officials found a false bottom hiding 2:? cans of opium. Edward K. Wygant h«d Wen operating in opposition to the syndicate. Instead of "hi jacking" his shipment, they betrayed him to the police, thereby removing his competition and pleasing the police. Acting on "information received" from the same source the narcotic agents have captured many shipments in the past months, but they rarely, if ever, stop one of the syndicate's consignments. Xow there is 110 law in the United States which obliges the Customs publically to disclose their seizures. Money talks here as elsewhere, and the Customs are more liable to exploitation and bribery than any. other Government service. It is not their fault, it is the fault of an 6versight in the system which makes it possible and profitable for a ruthWs and powerful "syndicate"

through the western ports of the United States. With headquarters in New York and agent* all over the world the "syndicate" had smuggled an incredible amount of narcotics into the United Mates. \\ar was declared. Where would it lead ? J Anywhere. Into the dregs of th» nation Into the highest strata of society. I lie slim chic lady tripping down the gang-plank can carry nearly half a pound of dope in her high* French heels. 'I In* drifting blocks of wood in the <|inct harbour waters may be buoy-, attached to tins of opium. 'Peanut .John" was an old Chinaman with a (plaint delicacy shop in a back <i le>,. Liery two or three months he would go to China, in the steer«<re. with a large pail filled with peanuts?" "Much better I go pick chow-chow." he explained to the Customs officials. On the trip lie ate only his peanuts. On his last voyage from Chine a woman was standing beside him as he went through the Customs. The inspector was an old friend of "Peanut John." and made a great pretence of peepinir into his pail, laughing at its contents and passing him through the line. The woman was next in line. "It's the funniest thing,' she said, "he eats so many peanuts, yet his pail is always full."

to operate, a syndicate so well servf l>v the brains at the head that the porl if Log Angeles an<l San Francisco a: ike open highroads and less we ruarded, «o ruthless that its agents at nurdered without compunction, s lowerful that it can destroy all con Jetitors. Word came to the Los Angeles Cu< onifi officials that a certain Japanes n the native quarter was the leader fi i dop-e ring which vas extending it ictivity from San I)i«-go to Seattl* Obviously they were interfering wit he syndicate, but Captain Cliitwoo<i lead of the Narcotics Office, could d otliing but play the syndicate's gam .nd jump on the Japanese ring. It was a dangerous job. for it mifrh e a trap, and Captain Chitwood under ook it himself. In old clothes, witl irtied face, smoking a rank pipe, he se' ut for the native quarter, his revolve n d police badge scant proteetior gainst the mobs of Chinatown. Aimlessly he wandered down darl lleys until he came to a. ricketi wo-storey apartment house am tationed himself in the doorwav, ap arently to light his pipe. Soon a irtive little Japanese stumbled out o! Ie door, shuffled past Captain Chit ood, who collared him and snapped a ame into his ear. The little Japanese mumbled direcons and scurried away, while Captain hitwood strolled on down the alley to a ingv restaurant. He passed througli ie main room, between tables covered ith stale food, and entered a rear room nelling faintly of opium fumes. Six Japanese were sitting in the room, hey stopped talking as Captain Chitood entered, stared at him in silence. Again Captain Chitwood mentionei ie name of the man he was seeking, ne of the Japanese motioned to a lair. Captain Chitwood sat down, pullg at his pipe. Nobody said anythinc. A Ja | nese got up, scrutinised Captain litwood's face. He was a man with a dice record. If anyone would reco?se the captain, he would. He didn't. o nodded to his companions and sat

down again. Saki was brought in. P taio Chitwood refused it. He was as *e his business. "Morphine/ lio s»id. 9UO repe»ted t name. "Come with me," said a Japanese. "We'll find him." They spent the rest of the night goins from restaurant to restaurant, bar to bar. Each time Captain Chitwood was inspected by men lie knew. Each time it would have meant instfliit death had he been recognised, or e\en suspected. Finally, in a hovel on tlic extreme outskirts of the quarter, his guide lelt him. In a few moments a small scholarly Japanese came in and sat down beside him, nodding and talking aimlessly. It was the man Captain Chitwood had been looking for, the man whose name he had whispered xroro restaurant to restaurant, from bar to bar, Tohiyoslii Xagae. Xagae ordered drinks, and asked the captain his business. "Monthly allotments." "How much?" "Twenty-five to 301b a month. Six pounds to-night." "I think we can do business." said Xajrae. They closed the deal, and agreed to meet later at an hotel, where the morphine would change hands. In the meantime Captain Chitwood secured marked money, and stationed his men in the hotel. •u they met a<rain it took them I the better part of an hour to count the [ money and wei«»h the small rubberised silk sacks of morphine. When the deal was finished the Japanese bowed. "I hope we have many more such deals." he said. "Me too." answered Captain Chitwood. "but first I want you to see this." He produced his police badge. The Japanese looked at him astounded. Then he leaped from his chair to the dresser near by, seized a pair of long-bladed scissors and plunged them towards his breast, but Captain Chitwood was too quick for him. He wrenched the scissors from him an! slipped the handcuffs round his wrists. Then his men went to work and one of the most complete round-ups ever recorded in the history of the dope racket began. By the time the case was ended

smuggler* from San Diego to Seattle were under lock and key and narcotics worth tens of thousands of dollars ha J been seized. A beautiful piece of work, but the police triumph was marred by the thought that all they had done was to play the enemy syndicate's game. Meanwhile, throughout the. United States the syndicate was at work, distributing its poison and creating new addicts among the nation's children and -rhooll>oys. Federal ayents are powerless to stop them. They have onlv i tenth of the syndicate's resources" »t Ilieir disposal, only a few cutters »o cover the entire seaboard of the United States. But the syndicate has to work under cover. One day it may make a mistake. Then Uncle Sam will have an account to render, and the dope traffickers, /reedv destroyers of men's souls, wii! be smashed. For the present their shipments continue to enter western seaports of the United States, bringing a horrible lingering death to thousands of addicts. Meanwhile, members of the syndicate grow fat on their millions of profits. Fat, but not careless. . . .