CARGO BROACHING.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1648, 15 January 1913, Page 8

CARGO BROACHING.

CAPTURE'.OF ASYDNEY GANG:

For years past•• cargo broaohing round about the: Port Jackson wharves has been a Tam'pant evil, and iuahy city firms have been' losers to the extent of thousands of pounds (says'.the Sydney."Sun" of January '5). Hiigu : .consigrimehts of Warehousemen's goods have disappeared in a' most mysterious'fashion, and tho Criminal-In-vestigation Department has\ been baffled inasmuch as the detectives have beenun--able'-'to locate the' slightest flaw ■in the skilled work of the pillagers. ' ■ Superintendent Roche, a few days ago, asked'for an'in'creaso 'in his detective stiff,, arid when ho'obtained bis additional men he centred his attention on tho cargo broachers: ; The force declared/ its intention of getting at the root.of- the evil. As a result Detective's Malono and'Duncan inado throe clever arrests lato'last night. The two officers, following up a reported case, happened'on a clue, andi yesterday afternoon,. disguised and. armed themselves'.', They made their way to W00II09; mooloo Wharf, arid hung about there, exciting little. or no attention. As riightfall came on ' they, secreted themselves behind astack of cargo.-; For hours' they stayed thefe, arid,waited and watched patiently like the experienced men. they art. It was well into the night before anything 6courred to justify/their lonely vigil; Silent-, ly a man cariio to tho' fence surrounding the wharf, and. as tho detectives peered cautiously through the darkness ■ he leapt tlie barrier without,making the semblance of a sound. ■'.■"■ - ;■''•■'■ ■-Then the stillness'was disturbed by three sharp-whistles. 1 The-last not©, had hardly escaped the man's'lips when two other men showed up at the fence. One of- the-two left, leaving his two,, companions standing and waiting.' A minute or two later the watchers behind tho cargo heard the rumbling of cart wheels, and a vehicle was backed against tho fence. Malone. anfi Duncan looked again; ■ and the men they had waited so long for were, seated on-the top of a load of cargo; in thp; cart.,as. they'Vat.cb.ed'tho horse starting .on its way. '. ; :, ', •/ .' -...'.' ' „ ' "The detectives had'bided thcir.timo well. They leapt the fence in one bound/and in. another Malono/hadjumped over the tailboard, and Duncan, had the horse's head. The animal waS'q'uickly quietened, and the investmators' ,wero ■' soon gi'apuling with their "wanteds." There was n/hnrd, sharp '.struggle,"but -strength prcvaitel, and 'the men, .who wero , subsequently charged with.,ca'rgo..broaching, were placed under arrest. .-CEppefch'er with tho cart and poods they were taken to the Cathedral Street station and charged. ' Thn authorities expect that/theso arrests will be the means of quelling cargo pillaging, for some least' as' far- as Sydney is concerned..: - ( '-.'.