DRUG TRAFFIC.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19373, 8 January 1925, Page 11

DRUG TRAFFIC.

STREET SELLERS IN SYDNEY. LARGE QUANTITIES SMUGGLED, (From Owe Own Correspondent.) SYDNEY, December 31. A remarkable statement regarding the alleged prevalence of cocaine smuggling and vending in Sydney is made by a police officer who has just retired after long service in the New South Wales police force. “Despite the precautions taken by the Customs and Excise officers,” he says, “many pounds of cocaine axe landed duty free in Australia every year, and although the police authorities have laid themselves out to trap the smugglers they have found it almost an impossibility because of the fact that most of the trade is carried on by apparently respectable women. “These women,” he added, “travel to India, Egypt, and Java collecting the ‘snow,’ and then by some unaccountable means, land, the stuff in Australia, while Customs officers are diligently searching elsewhere for the contraband, “It was my duty quite recently to look out for a certain woman. Everybody in the force knew she was an agent for a cocaine seller, and that she carried the dope on her person. 1 arrested her for vagrancy one night when she was searched, a beautiful little gold case, upon which was a certain coat of arms was embossed, was found. On opening the case several small packages neatly wrapped up in brown paper were discovered. These contained ‘snow,’ and were sold to customers in the public street for 10s each. Each packet would scarcely contain a decent sniff, but nevertheless hopeless drug addicts eagerly purchased it becanse. even the smallest quantity satisfied their craving for a while.” But to get back to the woman. The police didn’t detain her as a vagrant. She said she was a married woman and had a banking account. This was proved and wo had to let her go. Women can carry many pounds of “snow” on their person, and the ordinary male policeman has no chance whatever of finding it. With a man it is different. If we suspected a male we could detain him on suspicion and make no bones about searching him. But oven a policeman is a man, and ho has certain moral qualms about closely searching women. “The cocaine hawked in the streets, by the way, is not taken into slum areas. It is disposed of in aristocratic centres. That’s why 10s for a sniff is not considered too high. Beside* the women sellers there is a certain type of male imposter who knows where the drug fiends are to be found. Probably this individual works in conjunction with a woman, but instead of carrying cocaine ha carries small packages of camphorated chalk, and when things are bad with the half stupid dnttr fiend he passes him a sniff of the chalk for 10s. This chalk, by the way, can be purchased from any chemist for 6d an ounce. It is commonly used for toilet purposes, and the police have nothing on anyemo canyiajj it,”