A CRIME GANG

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19834, 25 June 1934, Page 4

A CRIME GANG

INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES. Something of the operations of an international crime gang, whose exploits, he says, outdistance the conceptions of writers of sensational fiction, has been revealed by a special correspondent of an English daily, after inquiries extending over many months. The gang's activities in England, Fiance, Sweden. Spain. Italy, Turkey, the United States. Germany, and elsewhere, range from espionage to incendiarism, and include white slaving and dope trafficking, to say nothing of financial ramps on a wholesale scale. The gang has a supreme head who lives on the Continent, and under him are many territorial chiefs, each with his chiefs of SLaff and aides-de-camp, as it were, the whole organisation being of a quasi -military character with a dash of high finance. The gang has much money at its command. It always needs ready money because it depends for much of its success on its ability to pay people in high places, particularly on the Continent—politicians and others—to turn a blind eye or a deaf ear to what may happen. At the moment the activities of the gang in Britain are concentrated largely on dope smuggling. This is how it works. Cocaine and heroin are obtained in large quantities from Istambul and mid-European countries. where it is manufactured, and smuggled into Paris with apparently little difficulty, the gang having agents at work among the railway and Customs officials of the countries through which the dope passes. At the Gars de l’Est in Paris no surprise is occasioned by the fact that ' is-fcinguished-looking travellers are met by footmen, who immediately take their hand-baggage to waiting motor-cars. A watcher might observe that each traveller who uses these cars, when alighting, overlooks at least one piece of hand-luggage which is handed to a representative of the garage supplying the cars. Later all these “lost” bags, which contain dope, find their way to a well known hotel, which is the gang’s distributing centre for France and the British Isles. Then the journey to England begins. From that hotel a jolly little party cf men and women sets off by motor-ear of course taking luggage with them. After a series of leisurely viisits to friends in different towns they make for the coast—Boulogne. Calais, Havre or wherever a friend’s yacht is waiting to take them for a “cruise.” The risky part of the journey begins when the smugglers join the yacht. The vessel has to make a rendezvous off the Isle of Wight, not far from Ventnor and there land the dope. Sometimes it is done at the dead of night, but more often openly, because the gang has an agent on the island who is above suspicion. Once the dope is in this person’s house it is all plain sailing. When the gang’s agents reach London they send their car—which still carries some luggage—to a West End garage. This garage is owned by one of the English agents of the gang, and it is his business to see that the forgotten piece of luggage finds its way to an exclusive private cli.b in the West End run by a very charming woman. The club is the distributing centre for London.