DRUG TRAFFIC MENACE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22172, 27 July 1935, Page 2 (Supplement)

DRUG TRAFFIC MENACE

POLICE DECLARE NEW WAR SERIOUS POSITION IN LONDON ' "DOPED" CIGARETTE PERILS The closing months of Lord Tren. ' ' chard's command of the London Metnv, jt politan Police will be marked by an in. tensive drive against drug traffickers— '".v "soul murderers" they have been called 1 —whoso nefarious trade has recently §||: been growing apace in the West The police have no illusions about the *l| task confronting them, for there is abundant proof that the drug trade is \ being slowly organised into as big Wip racket as it was in the heyday of Bril. ill liant Chang, one-time "Dope King" of ||l Britain. Two aspects of the new drug menace II are Causing grave concern—the increase in the smoking of doped cigarettes, par. ticularly by white girls in the West End, and the ease with which drugs II can be obtained in the heart of the Empire's capital. A year or so ago, with the death of the old night club, it looked as if the police had won their long battle against the drug racket. Drug-takers were, finding it increasingly difficult to obtain supplies, and fre. quenters of night clubs were no longer subjected to the insidious temptations of "snow" and hashish. Headquarters oi Gangs But the triumph of the police was short-lived. During the past few months the drug menace has grown to such an ' extent that Special Branch men and . specially-selected officers from the Criminal Investigation Department 4 have been given orders that it must be .f - stamped out. To-day the various head. |jv quarters of London's dope trade are f. not in the East End, as in the old days. They are situated, within a mile of |! : : Piccadilly Circus, practically always in' pleasant flats occupied by people of apparently unblemished records. Young and pretty girls, butterflies of ' the metropolis, are the chief victims of the new drug yendors. Jaded and weary after sleepless nights and hectic days, they fall easy victims to the plausible temptations of the "snow" and hashish seller, who nu.rmurs "just one little whiff and you will be happy and gay , v again." At first the girl may refuse, but her tempter is quite content to wait. He knows that almost invariably the dancing girl or bottle party "friend" will come along soonc-r or later for i? "just that one little whiff" which will enable her to carry on long after she m-\ is dead tired. From that moment, unless she is very strong-willed indeed, she is doomed. ~ff " No Questions Asked " To-day there are a score of places in || the West End where drugs may be ob- , tained and "no questions asked." There are a dozen places where the casual who has been vouched for—which means he does not look like a detective —may be approached and asked if he or she is interested in a;.;: "sweetened" cigarette. Many women who have no need to add to their natural charm and gaiety try one of the cigarettes "to see what it is lake.' Not more perhaps that one per cent or this type fall victims to craving for :| more and more dope—but there is that vV one per eent who do. In a case at Marlborough Street recently, Detective-Sergeant Keen, speakiucr about cigarettes containing Indian hemp, told the magistrate: "From my information this class of cigarette is beino- sold to white girls in West End ;!• clubs'." The smoking of that particular drug, declared the officer, was ! on the increase. tf| In their efforts to stamp out the menace the police are keeping a watch ; on disreputable cafes and clubs known to be frequented by drug smugglers. The airports are being closely guarded ||| against smuggling. Mysterious mot-or* | boats which "make periodical appearances off the South Coast are being checked up. Watch on Aeroplanes £ The movements of certain owners ol private aircraft are being "tailed, very soon the authorities hope to be in possession of sufficient evidence to carry out a wholesale swoop on the drug traffickers. The task of the police is not nearly so easy to-day as it was. only 15 years ago, when, following tlie war, there was a great wave of drugtaking in Britain. - Then the ports, particularly the Lon- j don docks, were the chief venue_ by which drugs were brought illicitly into tlie country. Nowadays aeroplanes, motor-boats and private yachts nave taken the platfe of the old trarap steamer in the international distribution of drugs. . , . Sealed packages landed on lonely parts of the coast, or boxes landed in lonely fields from night-flying aeroplanes, have usurped the older dodge such as cocaine hidden away in coa. bunkers, or brought ashore in a boos with a double sole. . But the police are not concentrating all their energies on the night-club o bottle-party drug peddling. They « also keeping a wary eye on to activities of a group of professi. > men who are believed to be Ending money for this new attempt to sw mp London with drug-peddling agents. Large Profits Made Already Scotland Yard has had some sucdoss in their new war, but so tar only the smaller men have fallen their net. During the next few months the war will be waged with intensity. The illicit sale of drugs, which ranks with blackmail as tne lowest form of soul destroying crime, has produced a gang of cunning who will stop. at nothing m their g nefarious p'ractice. . ,v. fibThere is big money to be made in game, and the men behind it arc fully •; aware of the risks they run but, as j, usual, it is only the small and careless J ngent who is easily caught b. police. The big men remain in tne .i----background. The huge profits come not|| from the casual sale of dope, b« from the organised sale to novice can obtain reasonable quantitie of cocaine, hashish or opium at almO&o commercial prices, but as the cr for drugs grows the prices "i----then that the men behind the trad make their profits. nf Bevond the mere financial aspect oi the drug trade there are social eyi * of the gravest nature. Innocent gin have been ruined body and soul sequel to that first "whiff' ; young , -fc have had their feet set on the roa which leads to degradation h pcf "'* they have listened to the persuasion of some smooth-voiced club friend on his stories of "beautiful dreams ana-, peace."