SMUGGLING GOLD.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19846, 15 January 1920, Page 2

SMUGGLING GOLD.

CANO OPERATING IN AUSTRALIA.

A TEST OF WITS.

.. aekcd ,v long experience of smuggling opium into Australia, the organ'■'•ecl gang engaged in the business has now turned its attention in another direction which, if it succeeds, will prove ; highly profitable to the man in the I'jii.st (says The Sydney Sun ”). J his time he does not trropo.se to fetch .tuft to Australia. What he aims at is to relievo this country of ns much Oi its gold coinage as is possible, and ho is prepared to launch out in a big "it'. -juke the landing of opium, the master brain. backed up witli all th*3 cunning of the hast, lias laid the plans, and again the Customs official is called upon to pit himself against tho tucks ol the man who is the' agent of the smuggler. When tne value oi xho Australian sovereign began to increase in the hast, the way was paved for tho smugger to add further to his income through another avenue. In fact, ho is now able to employ the same organisatl”n as I 9 us:cd ’ n the opium trade. though the average citizen seldom secs a gold coin, the man in the lias a way of his own of obtaining gold in large quantities, as has been proved in recent raids aboard outgoing ships ft is known to the Customs authorities that agents of the man in the East arc operating in the city and suburbs ol Sydney, purchasing sovereigns at more than their face value. The general price paid l is 225, but in some cases whore a. big purchase is possible a, higher premium is offered- Even at 2os the sovereign returns a profit to the smuggler- The ruling price of a sovereign in China is ns high as 2Ss. while m Singapore and Colombo it is at dO per cent more than the face value. At those prices the trade is a. fine investment. and the man in tho East, through his' agents in .Australia, is aoolying every method of heating the Customs in his endeavour to get the coinage out of the Commonwealth.

But ho. is not having it. all his own way. Customs officials are hard on his tracks, and though , many big hauls have been made at Sydney.- it is not denied that largo sums mav have been shipped to the. East. ' Since. tW euw barge on the expert of gold eoius was instituted, the Customs officers at Sydney alone recovered £4310.

MELBOURNE'S SMUGGLERS. The man in the East lias as representatives in Melbourne members of the sect known as the See Yip’s, and they arc said to he oven more cunning than the Goo loo’s, Hun San’s or Toon Goon’s, who are working Svdney both lor opium and gold. . , Tim Melbourne smuggler would' need to be a little more onto than the Sydney uian, because he has first to outtut the searchers there, and then run he risk of detection at this port. Neary all of the steamers which trade from ho East make Melbourne the terminal port, and so they arc twice under the Uistoms ofbeor 9 eye. It ]ias happened more than once that’ the second search has mealed a big find, but that does not mean that the watch is more stringent at one port than another. -Sometimes, At hen an expert gang of searchers is on a job the “Chink” finds it too nw-y to unearth his plant, or even to shift it from its first, .hiding piaceIN HEELS OF BOOTS.

One of the now ways of fho gold smuggler recently came under the notiec ot the Customs, avlicii a tired-look-Chink J strolled up the gangway of a vessel which was about to leave Sidney for China. He reached the deck before coming under the watchful 6A e of the Customs officer, and though to the untrained watcher he looked nothing more man a: ■ nurdworking gardener, the expert noticed that, m putting his foot down the “ Cmnk” hit the deck boards hard, fins brought about his downfall. The officer had detected gold. The smuggler was questioned, and in the usual plausible way denied lie had any gold about him.

Conic into the saloon,” said the officer.

4 ‘‘So fear.” replied the Chink. id' 116 did, and his boots were vcmoved. The weight of them told the talc. It was obvious that the heel? i\cie not all leather. The officer then commenced- to remove the leather in layers, and after taking off two a gold discovery was made- i lie Chink had removed the outer leather? and bored a hole right through, filiiuo- it with sovereigns- The count revealed