SMUGGLING OPIUM.

Colonist, Volume LIV, Issue 13497, 17 August 1912, Page 3

SMUGGLING OPIUM.

A PLOT TO MURDER.

A startling story is in the possession of the police of a plot on the part of a number of Chinese sailors to kidnap a Sydney Chinese merchant, take him to sea and murder him.

The reason for the plot was the belief that tho marked man refused to pay for £1000 worth of opium, which early one morning some months ago, was delivered by the smugglers to boatmen engaged by tho merchant, who were assigned to get.the stuff ashore.

The other side of the story is that the" opium never reached its destination, but was seized by the Customs officers after an exciting chase in the

harbour

So far the police have been unable to verify the information regarding the plot, but there is every reason to believe that their informant has told a reliable story, and that in consequence -the authorities were several days ago enabled to prevent the Chinamen from murdering tho merchant.

Early this year a steamer arrived from Hongkong. The crew had stowed away a large quantity of opium on the vessel before leaving the Chinese port, and it is asserted that the stuff was on order for the Sydney merchant.1 As soon as the steamer reached Sydney, the story runs, the crew apprised the storekeeper of the safe arrival of the opium, and arrangements were made by the consignee to send off a boat to the steamer early the following morning to take delivery.

Sure enough, at about four o'clock the next morning, a boat was rowed to the side -of the steamer. The smugglers were on the look-out, for they lost no time in transferring the tins of opium to the waiting boat. A move was then made to land the plunder at a convenient place, Dawes Point being selected for the purpose. But they reckoned not with the enemy—the Customs. Word of the smuggling had been passed to "the Customs officials, and the opium was captured before it could be landed.

Defeat and the loss of £1000 were bitter pills for the Chinese, and they vowed vengeance. Their steamer was duo to sail for Hongkong in a. few days, and it is stated that they held a meeting in the ship's hold, and in true Black Hand fashion, decided to chloroform the storekeeper, stow him away in the hold, and when well out to sea, murder him and throw the body overboard.