SMUGGLING

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 33, 8 August 1923, Page 13

SMUGGLING

BEATING THE CUSTOMS

GETTING CONTRABAND ASHORE

WOMEN THE WORST OFFENDERS.

At the mention of smuggling, one's mind turns naturally to thoughts of rak-ish-looking schooners and persons picturesquely attired in knee breeches, wearing wide sashes plentifully decorated with pistols and sabres;, also to visions of cargoes of silks and spirits landed on some rocky shore under cover of night. But nowadays, says a writer, in the Sydney "Sim-," the evasion-of Customs dues which goes on continually in every big post is earned out by suave, businesslike gentlemen clad in modern sac suits and silk socks, a nd the Preventive Service seel^s iis cuarry in the busy marts of trade instead of in caves and on lovely stretches of deserted ceail-

Since it is mostly wearing apparel which is smuggled ashore by travellers, women, as might ba expected, are the most numerous exponents, and the contraband which they smuggle consists largely of jewellery, furs, and dress materials of the more costly kinds which have been purchased abvead. The farvourite method of getting such \stuff ashore is to wear it under ordinary clothes; but, of course,.there is a limit to the quantity with which the fair smuggler can pase_ the barriers without presenting a dropsical appearance which would be calculated to arouse suspicion in the mind of the most incurious Customs officer. Hence, when the shipment makes a somewhat bulky parcel for this method, other means must be found. v The traveller who knows the ropes, and has had previous experience in this direction, is well aware that to have an ally in the ship's company, no matter of how lowly a grade, or even amongst his fellow-passengers, is to simplify the problem enormously. Conversely, the sleuths of the Customs service know that it is amongst a vessel's crew that the chances of making the biggest hauls lie. In consequence, sailors, stewards, firemen, and even officers are watched with an unceasing vigilance, filcnt aiTd unobtrusive. On many ships are men who specialise in getting dutiable goods ashore for passengers, being paid a- substantial commission in return for their efforts, and the slightest suspicious move by one of these, many of whom are known to the authorities, is sure to be followed by invisible activity amongst .the watchers. IN THE LAUNDRY BAGS. As in most spheres of life, it Is usually the most audacious schemes which are the most 6iicce3sful in smuggling, and at times the officers have been outwitted, and thousands of pounds' worth of goods landed literally under their noses by methods at once ingenious and bold. Once a large quantity of silks and valuable crepe de chine were passed through the cordon simply by placing them amongst the soiled linen which was about to be sent to a laundry. The linen, which' included as well the coloured hangings and curtains from the saloons, was placed in bags, together with the contraband, and before they left the ship these were inspected by a Customs officer. He, however, failed to notice the dutiable goods in their background of smilarly coloured articles, and passed the lot on to the wharf. From there, by arrangement with the carter, it was taken to a. place in one of the suburbs, the contraband separated from the rest, and the linen sent on to its destination. It was estimated subsequently that the success of this particular coup resulted in the Commonwealth being defrauded of three or four hundred pounds due to it as duty. Before the war large quantities of scientinc goods, such as reagents for, use | in chemical laboratories, oil-immersion lenses for microscopes, and the stains and dyes employed in bacteriological work were imported from Germany, and as they were usually of a very hi"h quality, they were . preferred by scientists to all other kinds. When the war broke out, and the supplies of this material were checked, the 'laments of those who had been using them were long-and loud. In vain it was pointed out that the products of % England, France, and America were just as good if not superior. Naturally it was only a short-time before somebody started to fill the demand. Thereafter there began a steady stream of smuggled German chemicals and appliances which, in some respects has continued right up to the present day. . ■ Those engaged in this sort, of emusgang ■made some large sums of money and despite frequent efforts by, the Customs Department it was seldom that any of t\e stuff was ever found and seized.. DEMAND FOE GERMAN INSTRUMENTS. ,-n 1? 1^ 15, an °fflcer on a ship purchased in Amsterdam three German microscopes, Taking them to pieces while on^ the way to Australia he carried them past the watches at Melbourne in his pockets and reassembled the parts in an lour or so. j me, d.ay he sold two for £25 each, and the third for £30. When his ship sailed again for London he earned with him orders for goods running into hundreds of pounds m value, the orderi having been secured from the connection made by the sale of the microscopes. At the end of the nest trip ho successfully entered with three dozen oil-immersion lenses, bought in Europe for the equivalent of £1 each, and sold the lot to a Sydney firm for £3 a piece, while some chemicals and stains, picked up as a job bt for £10, realised well over £100 Thereafter he set out in real earnest to make hay while the harvest -lasted, and after each run of his ship to Australia he was several hundred pounds richer than he had been before. When eventually he decided to retire before retribution oyrtook him, he sold a list of the names of his customers to a fellow-offl-oer for £50 The purchaser cleared enough to build a number of houses and to roure from the sea. From Japan and the East generally X 6 ♦W? W klm u0:l0S and valuable silks, the duty on whxh would be high were it paid, and the- methods of eftting these past the Customs' barrier wouldrequire a book to describe. Cases have oeen known in wl.ich portly and corpulent ships' officers who have been la?e P rPcl ln */ ?* °f £°in* ash™ on t^v^f -T th 6 Customs °ffi« on the nhart slight and thin in build the difference being due to the fact thai -round tneir legs and bodies was wound ned n4fs t ,° f Va!UaMe Silk Tins Si ed with fat from a vessel's spllevs hiv« proved on investigation to b? fitted wUh false bottoms, so that all the f atwhch I\£ i* e '£', tho c°mpartment under-de-chene. Even watermelons have been round io be stuff;d with tightly-rolled aj> si'.k kimonos.

But it is , 1? t only the Commonwealth's revenues which suffer in this Tav through the depredations of the Australian contraband-runner. To a certain «- tent Sydney is a bast for the smuggler X. T 1"- •°"-r the United States jvliere iha prevailing high duties on jewellery, particular^ on Inset tone" such as sapphires and black opals, »„'. fiSS eir.,smu?g'i«S■ highly profitable. Gems worth only » f 9w thillWs here i^avs a .valbh of pouad* in America