THE HOLY LAND

Evening Star, Issue 21632, 30 January 1934, Page 12

THE HOLY LAND

HOME OF DRUG TRAFFIC It will come as a shock to the millions of the Christian population of the world to learn that the Holy .Land is one of the black spots of the East so far as the drug traffic .is concerned. It will be a startling revelation to the devout people from, nearly. every nation on earth who make pilgrimages to the holy'places to know that in’their spiritual'goal of Christ’s birthplace the traffickers arov busy, writes a former member' of the Palestine Police and Customs Department, in the ‘ NewsChronicle.’ Years ago Palestine gained a terrible notoriety for being the clearing house of one of the vilest trades that the mind of man ever conceived—the traffic in women and girls. To some extent this has ceased to be a matter of reproach to the authorities who control the destinies of the country, but the illicit trade in dangerous drugs, intended for the excitement-crazy night birds of the European and American cities, has received a tremendous im- . petus. The ghouls who make enormous profits by destroying the souls and bodies of drug addicts in all countries of the globe, have found “ dope-running ” more profitable and less dangerous than the trade in human beings. Their organisation, and their devilish ingenuity have been transferred from the one nefarious calling to the other. Throughout the Holy Land, in the villages and towns which bear the most sacred names in historj’, the agents of the drug traffic pursue their way, and so artfully is the nature of their trade concealed that detection is rendered tremendously difficult, in spite of the admirable vigilance of that sorely-tried body of men—the Palestine Police Force. “ WANTED FOR NATIVES.” On the Via .Dolorosa, within 53yds of one of the stations of the Cross, there flourished for a long time a certain shop which was one of the local centres of the trade. A police informant came to the local station one day saying that his suspicions were aroused at the sight of a man he had long suspected as a drug agent loitering about this little shop. A lightning raid followed, and large quantities of hashish were found on the promises. The usual story was told by the Arabs who were arrested. The drug was wanted for the local natives, they said. If those local natives had done nothing else but consume hashish every

minute for twelve months, they would have used only the tiniest fraction of the drug supply stored in that shop! ; Although The natives do) smake vety large' quantities of hashish, frequently mixed with a proportion of tobacco, and to some, extent this has to be winked by the'authorities,, there was not the slightest doubt that the innocent looking wayside shop was one of the important clearing houses of the trade. Here bulk supplies were received from Turkey and the inorth, and distributed to" various agents for delivery in Egypt, where the big men of the “racket” supervise the distribution to the consuming centres. WHY PALESTINE?. Many will wonder why Palestine is the centre of the activities of the dope smugglers. The three principal drugs, for which there is a steady demand from the countries of Western Europe, and • North and. South America, are cocaine, heroin, and , hashish. India and Australia take huge quantities of heroin. The Dark Continent is not a good market for these abominable wkres, although two of the principal distributing' centres of the world, Cairo and Alexandria, are African cities.

The centres of production are in comparatively remote, inaccessible, and poorly policed districts, in Southern Russia, Turkey, and the Balkan countries. After rough processes of manufacture the crude? drug is brought south to the Mediterranean ' seaports, from whence it can be broadcast to the waiting traffickers. Palestine is on the line of route, and of necessity has become the highroad of drugs, tbs pathway of a pernicious commodity. The , trade reached its peak period shortly after the armistice in 1918, when the demand for stimulating drugs was at its height in all the war-weary countries. , Men and women who once shuddered at the thought of giving way to the craze caught the infection and became devotees of one form or another of “ dope.” The fever spread, ahcl it was then that the ramifications of the business became widespread; the ring controlling supplies tightened its grip until local' officials in scores of centres became corrupted and the passage of the, supplies of drugs through forbidden territory became facilitated to an incredible extent. A REACTION. When Palestine became British mandated territory there was an immediate reaction among the traffickers. They realised that under British control the trade would not be tolerated for a moment. They therefore set themselves to devise methods of eluding detection, and so successful wore many of their ruses that they were able to keep up a regular supply to the consuming centres _ for a long • period almost without interruption. Under British rule, rapidly the police and Customs administration was tightened up. Corrupt officials were detected and removed. Haunts which had long been immune from any kind of official interference were raided and closed. _ A regular force was employed in tracing various methods which the traders adopted, and within a comparatively short space of time the main routes were closed. Unfortunately, however, the wily Oriental mind, combined with slick European and American brains, contrived to find fresh methods of transport and concealment. The difficulties of the British authorities were immense. They had to contend—and their numbers, it must bo remembered, were ludicrously small—with an entire underworld of smugglers whose organisation was very thorough, having been built up through decades of bribery, corruption, and intimidation.: