"DRUGGED FOR MONTHS."

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18521, 4 October 1923, Page 6

"DRUGGED FOR MONTHS."

SEA CAPTAIN'S ALLEGATION.

'AMAZING CASE IN SYDNEY.

" I have been in a doped condition for about two years. >i, can remember having lived at many different places, but I -was always watched carefully. /Two men and a woman have been with me. I was under their influence. There is /a financial side to the matter, for an amount ,of over a "thousand pounds is involved." V; This -startling statement was: made some weeks ago to detectives in, Sydney; (says a Sydney newspaper), and they' have • been engaged on an exhaustive inquiry in connection with the whole affair. ,: At first they were inclined to treat the story lightly, but as . they progressed in their inquiries "they realised that /it was only too true that the complainant had been badly treated, and that a large sum of his money had gone into other pockets. ; The victim of the plot is a sea captain. ■ Formerly/connected with one: of the /big shipping companies in England, /be 1 •.«» for years* engaged'- in the Atlantic passenger and cargo trade. This was Eriorto the war. ;: On the outbreak of ostilities '"! he was attached to the navy and commanded; a transport which took Australian soldiers /to Gallipoli. > i,:A / the conclusion of the /war he was in England, ; and; later was engaged ; by///a./. Norwegian shipping company /to ; represent ,v it in ■the Pacific islands. and deal in plantations; and copra trade. % He 'fulfilled' this mission, visiting: Papua,./ Gilbert '■ Islandsand Marshall Islands. • :: Coming to Sydney, ■ he decided ; to return : to'-* the ' Pacific ; Islands, and ■:; was: negotiating to purchase a schooner >or his business when, he happened to fall in with a man at a leading hotel. "V ' 'V:'," This v meeting brought V about my downfall," he remarked to one of the detectives, Drugged and Taken Away. , The victim made a long >-:. statement ■//' to the police, and it was/found necessary .for some action /to be taken. ; An arrest ; was made several days 'ago, but official action was delayed over a matter which cropped up at the # last moment. / . "To think that f this ■■;■' man has been -under the influence of ' dope ' for a long time appears/to be . unreasonable," »*.- marked a police official; "but such has been /the case. ;- He has ■ /been ?:■ receiving/ medical attention, and even now his nerves are not in their normal state." > ■/The man stated that at a leading hotel he became acquainted with a : stranger who is known to the police. ; Drinks were partaken of, < and business discussed. From then on the victim stated that he was in a doped condition for nearly/two years. !It seemed ;to him that he was : ; doped and kept in that' state. ;: He has no knowledge of seeing anyone /place any '-:■ chemical in his drink. * ' '

There was a .woman in the case. , : The police' have /interviewed ,' her, and :; have found that houses were ; rented / for i short periods and the man kept in': them. The party lived at different times Bondi, Manly, / West Maitland, /. Hornsby, .Eastwood, Newport, North Sydney, ? Albiiry, Enmore and Mosman. ; /During, the period /of /'the captain's doped condition, well , over a thousand pounds of his; money" went into other hands. Letter from Wife. ? The captain's wife lives in England, and not having .had a : letter from ' her ■ husband :for ; some time she wrote to the 'head' of a . (shipping company in >: Sydney, /: -askings' mm to try and ? trace the whereabouts -' of , her'husband. "" . ; .. - .- /■ln order to try and get into'touch with the captain, it was decided by the police n . d .'^ he . shipping officials to advertise a position of, captain on an island boat vas vacant.so; as to tempt him to ? reply and give Ins address. He did. not answer the advertisement, but another man made an inquiry for him, with the result that tho' ; police traced the missing /.captain /: to " ; a room in the city. ;; They took ■ charge ; 0 him, and I also traced luggage of his at the Central Railway Station, where it/had been for two years. '