OPIUM FOUND

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22258, 5 November 1935, Page 15

OPIUM FOUND

POLICE RAID HOUSE INFORMATION BY CHINESE GRIEVANCE OVER A DEAL HEAVY fines imposed That a Chinese who thought himself pronged in a business deal out of spite gave information which caused the ' police to raid the premises where a number of his countrymen had gathered to conclude the transaction was an assertion made by the defence when a number" of Chinese appeared before Mr. Wyvern Wilson, S.M-, in the Police Court yesterday on charges connected with opium. The accused were Ah Lee, aged $2, gardener (Mr. Sullivan), charged that, being the occupier of premises at 11 "C Kelson Street, he permitted them to be used fof the purpose of smoking opium, Wong Sun, aged 3(3. hawker, Wong Wall a£ed 40, gardener, Chang Wong, - gardener. Ah Shum, aged 36, gardener, and Kwok Hing, aged 40, gardener i (Mr. Sullivan), and Ah Hun, aged 35), J gardener (Mr. Dickson), charged with ! being found without' lawful excuse on ! the premises while they were being used i for the purpose of smoking opium, and i Chan Full, aged 48, fruiterer (Mr. Dick- ' B on), charged with being found in pos- i Bcssion of prepared opium. Senior-Detee- i tive Hall prosecuted. Ah Lee and Chan Fun pleaded guilty and the others not ! guilty. ' Regarding Chan Fun, Senior-Detec-tive Hall' said accused had been seen j bv a police party coming out of a lane and was found to have a tin containing 15 packets of opium in his possession. I, " Confirmed Opium Addict " Certificates from two doctors were produced by Mr. Dickson stating that accused suffered from tuberculosis of the lungs and was a confirmed opium addict. If he were to cease taking the •drug it" would only accentuate his trouble. Later, counsel stated that he had consulted with relatives of accused and it had been decided it would be better if he returned to China. To send him to gaol would probably cause his death. Accused was convicted and remanded until Thursday to allow medical evidence to bo called. Mr- Sullivan said Ah Leo had been in the house> only a fortnight. He claimed never to have had anyone but himself in the hquse for opium smoking purposes. ' Evidence was given by Detective-Ser-geant McHugh and Detective Davis of 'a raid on the house on October 21. There was no answer to a knock on the door and it was forced. Ah Lee was in a front room and the others in a back room. All the windows were covered with sacking and the place smelled strongly of opium. Three lamps, one cold and four hot opium pipes, prepared opium and seconds, and other paraphernalia were found in the two back rooms. Ah Lee admitted being the of the premises. Only one of the accused had entered the house within an hour of the raid, as it was under observation. To Mr. Sullivan, witness silid accused were in their working clothes and had their boots on. He declined to state on whose information the police acted. " Business Transaction " Speaking through an interpreter, one of the accused, Ah Wong, said he had ! been in partnership with a certain "Woßg Shing; a» a market gardener -at "Hetitasville. The partnership had been dissolved, the terms being arranged by the Kwong Chew Club. The night before the raid it had been decided that witness should walk out on payment of £BO, of which £4O should be paid the ' following day and the balance in January. The meeting place for next day was fixed at 1170 Nelson Street. Wong Shing was not there when _ witness -arrived and while he vvas_ waiting for him the "pplice entered- Neither witness nor the other accused smoked any opium while he was there. Corroborative evidence was given by five of the accused, all members of the Kwong Chew Club, who said they were there to arrange the deal. Another, Ah Hung, said he went there solely for the purpose of collecting £5 from Ah Wong, who, he heard, was to receive payment there. Ah Wong paid him 30s, which was on the floor when the police arrived, and was lat-er given to him. " Informed the Police " A market gardener, Wong Shing, said he did not consider the dissolution of his partnership with Ah Wong to have been fairly settled by the Kwong Chew Club, as the price was too high. It was arranged that the money should be paid at 117 C Nelson Street, and on the morning of the raid he told DetectiveSergeant McHugh there would probably be opium smoking going on at the house and to raid it. He did this because he did not think he had had a fair deal. , . ~ To Senior-Detective Hall, witness said he told Detective-Sergeant McHugh some Europeans were taking opium to the place, not that opium was being • smoked there. The magistrate said accused had failed to produce a satisfactory excuse for conf relating in an opium den to conduct usiness, rather than at the Kwong Chew Club, where the negotiations had » commenced. The occupier of the premises, Ah Lee, would be fined £IOO, in default three months' imprisonment. Of the others, Wong Sun, Ah Shum and Kwok Hing, who had previously been convicted for similar offences, would each be fined £3O and costs, and the others £2O each and costs.