SMUGGLING IN BELGIUM.

Colonist, Volume LIV, Issue 13382, 3 April 1912, Page 3

SMUGGLING IN BELGIUM.

The risi; of smupc^ling is-RfCJit, but thore aro 11n:«,y^'people ready to take ;t for tho peat profits involved, an<l tho motor-ctir is ol" y;roat assistunco to them. Motor-cars litted with armour pluting to protect tho oirupiuits from tho bullets of Customs ollioiiiln :iro speciully built for this'traffic, and in the hands of desperate and determined ni'.ut, ;u'e very formidable A party of Customs officers in ambush on a main ro.id loading to tho frontier suddenly saw a black nainted siutojuobikl anproachiujj; at full snood from the direction of n-.-l----fiiuni. Three officers stopped on t;i the roadway and called upon the occupants of the car to stop. The- reply to tho summons came in the shape of a revolver fusilade. from the ohaufFeur and a man who was sitting at his side. Fortunately, the aim of the smugglers was wide,'and none of tho officers were hit. Tho main body of the Customs guard in reserve 500 yards further along, .seeing the hostile reception accorded to their comrades, hastily rau some stout steel wires across the road. Tho car, which was equipped with a projecting steel ram, charged tho barrier, broke through it without any difficulty, and continued its courgo in the direction of Lille. The Customs officers fired at tho car, and wounded tho man beside the chauffeur, but tho ■smugglers got away. At Lille, howover, disaster overtook them. The oar was turned sharply to avoid tho octroi guard at the entrance to the city, and a wheel came off, which caused tho car to overturn. The two men kept the octroi guard off with their revolvers, and then made off across country. Tho car was found to bo an 80-horso-power armoured vehicles and it contained a largo quantity of cut tobacco, worth i about £BttO.