DIAMOND SMUGGLING

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXVI, Issue 10405, 19 July 1912, Page 7

DIAMOND SMUGGLING

Arrayed against each other fot what promises to be bitter battle are she American Jewellers’ Protective Association, just incorporated in New York, and the adroitly conducted schools to teach the art of gem smuggling now established in Fairs. The newly-latmoliid New York organisation will carry the fight across the ocean to compel wealthy Americans, who purchase on an average 100,000.000 dollars’ worth of diamonds yearly and pay duty only on one-twentieth that amoant* to make honest declarations.

la pursuance of plans already formed the jewellers will spend 300 COO dollars a year to catch American graduates of the smuggling school, will hire women detectives to shadow gem buyers from shop to shop in Pans, and will syndicate the information so that wealthy American tonrists will not pass a single day of absolute privacy. Amongst professionals there is not so much attempt to enter at the port of New York as at places less closely watched. The smuggled gems which find their way in are generally brought in by the railroads from the Canadian or the Mexican border. There is no dnty on diamonds in either Canada or Mexico, and the .international line in either case is sufficiently long to make it a comparatively easy matter to slip Into the United States undetected. An unfortunate sartorial “nioeness’ not so long ago brought the attention of the revenue officers to a clever smuggler’s trick. In a train which had just passed Port Huron, Michigan, efter emerging from the tunnel which forms an inlet from Canada, and after the Customs officers were believed to have left, a well dressed man was observed to take off a pair of patent leather pumps. Instead of depositing these in hia suit case, from which he had. taken the pair snb&tituted, he carefully placed the shoes taken off into a small otherwise empty hand satchel. This attracted the attention of «»n official who was supposed to have left the train, hut who. following “information received,” had not done so, and an inspection of the patent leathers was demanded. After considerable -trouble the demand was complied with, and the shoes were found to have false heels. By taking off the bottom left a small hollow space was disclosed, and In this space was neatly 20,000 dollars’ worth of diamonds.

Au opera singer of considerable reputation was caught by the department in bringing diamonds from Montreal, and the trick she adopted was very ingenious. It is a fact that When examining the baggage of a company of travelling actors the theatre trunk harlly ever is inspected. That is supposed to contain only the costumes, wigs, and grease paint of the actor. On a recent in ejection the official was surprioed to find “in the private trunk of the singer in question a lot of her stage things. Mtfved by an impulse of su s picion he demanded to sea her theatre trunk, aud In a tin box which generally contained slicks of grease paint, rouges, ana powders he found two diamond brooches and some unset which in hei hurry probably she had forgotten to declare. Hatbands also seem to have irresistible attractions for contraband gems. So much has this been the case that inspectors look with suspicion on debarking passengers who have come all the way from Europe with hats which are so large for thpm that bias baorme necessary tofstoff with sweatbands to make them fit. The wary Customs men are also on the watch ft i; mended oo :t 3. As everybody knows, the seams of a coat are sewed before she linings are pnt in and when a seam has been broken or the stitching is' ; ’not continuous the Inspector'finds some excuse to pass his trained fingers over such a seam, in the expectation of finding some lump there which is not made by thread or shcddy. Thousands of dollars’ wor f h of uncut atones have been brought into the country in hatbards and coat seams, AN ODD HIDING PLACE)] About the oddest place yet discovered to hide gems is in a set of false teeth The set which gave the snap away must have been specially designed for smuggling Tbs diamond chamber was in the plate This had been shaped to the hard plate of the wearer-, but instead of being a single plate a second one was placed about a quarter of an inch lower, and in this aperture the stones were secreted. As has bes« indicated, however professional smuggling includes but a very small part of the work of the Customs officers. The dnty on miout stones is only 10 per cent., ana the risk is now too great to make It worth while- Again, the dealers who are willing to compound with the smugglers are rarely to be found, and what was once a profitable business has now gone into a decline. But the amateur smuggling goes merrily on. There seems to be a spirit of adventure among the wealthier women which makes them the most expert and daring of smugglers. It la within a tew mouths that a certain New York woman of prominence was caught in a tilok which had never yet, as far as is known, been devised by the moat expert professional She had been requested to take down her hair, for after close inspection -nothing had been found on her which tallied w*Ui the list of jewels she had bought In Paris, as reported by the agents Strand after strand of glorious hair was loosed, and still no jewels appeared. Had they been placed loose they would certainly have fallen out, and the officials “began to fear that they were subjectiog aa innocent person to search on’ misinformation. Finally when the last comb and hairpin had been removed, except for one ribbon which bound a strand of hair close so the poll, one of the woman- inspectors asid, “What a beantifnl head of hair yon have, madam,” and, saying this, passed her band to the ribbon. Something underneath it caused her to untie the knot and thus release aa fine string of pearls as has been brought into the country in a longtime. Such detections as this would have been next to Impossible had there been no information imparted to the officials. The knowledge In the case cited was supplied by an a gent of the experimental organisation now merged into the American Jewellers’ Protective Asooiation. With the increased scope thns undertaken. It is believed that tne smuggling can be tedeaoed at least one-half.