BOOS TRAINED TO SMUGGLE

Evening Star, Issue 19004, 28 July 1925, Page 9

BOOS TRAINED TO SMUGGLE

TRIALS OF THE ITALIAN CUSTOMS OFFICERS The lucrative smuggling trade which exists on the Swiss-Italinn frontier necessitates constant vigilance by Italian Customs officials. The smuggled goods include saccharine, tobacco, matches, and perfumes, which are heavily taxed in Italy. The centre of the trade is, writes the Geneva correspondent of the ‘ Daily Express,’ on the frontier south of Lugano. Hero the Italian authorities have constructed a high wire fence covered with small bells, which extend along many miles of the hills and valleys. Customs officers are placed at frequent intervals along the wire “ wall,” which they watch night and day, hut in spite of all precautions the illicit commerce continues to increase, as the smugglers, mostly Italians, and their trained dogs arc exceedingly clever. During a dark night, one of the smugglers will set the bells ringing purposely in his section, and when the officers rush to the spot, other smugglers cut the wire a few hundred yards away and escape across the frontier with the contraband goods. The training of dogs has become a fine, though cruel, art. The smuggler lends his dog to the “ trainer,” who is always dressed in a Customs officer’s uniform. He beats the animal frequently, so that in a few weeks the dog will detest and fear a man in uniform, and avoid him anywhere in the future. This is exactly the result desired by the owner.

The Italian smuggler then takes the dog with' him across the frontier and teaches him to return home alone. The animal wears a coat provided with small pockets which contain the contraband goods, and becomes in. time an accomplished smuggler. The dogs are shot at on sight by "The frontier guards, and this makes the animals even more wary and cunning. The larger dogs carry their loads with great speed over the Alpine passes, and it becomes practically impossible to prevent this form of smuggling. A welltrained dog is worth a large sum of money, but he cannot be sold, for ho will constantly return to his master’s home, where, owing to his value, he has always been well treated.

The Italian authorities have found the system of bolls unsatisfactory, and have recently replaced them by small electric lamps on the wire fence, as most of the smuggling takes place at. night. It Is doubtful, however, whether the new method will be a success, as it is a comparatively easy matter for the smugglers to cut off the electric current.