OPIUM RAIDS.

Wairarapa Age, 19 December 1932, Page 3

OPIUM RAIDS.

CAPTURE BY AUCKLAND POLICE. AUCKLAND, December 18. A house in Grey’s Avenue occupied by Chinese, which was raided by the police little more than a week ago, was again raided this afternoon. Eight Chinese were arrested, while a quantity of opium prepared for smoking, several pipes and a number of other accessories were seized. The police party, which comprised Acting-Detective Wilson, who took part in the previous raid, and Constables Vial, Davis, Williams and Mahood, went quietly to the house shortly after two o’clock. The building, an old two-storeyed wooden structure, was not barricaded, but it was found necessar yto force the back door with an iron bar. As soon as the door was open, Constables Williams and Mahood rushed in. There was no one on the ground floor, but in a small upper room almost devoid of furniture, eight Chinese were found seated about the floor. The remainder of the police party then went up the stairs which provided the only access to the room. On the occasion of the previous raid, two Chinese jumped from a window, one being slightly injured. In the room were found pipes, a small quantity of opium, lamps and other accessories, which were seized and removed. None of the Chinese offered any resistance to arrest. They were taken to the Central Police Station in a motor car.—<(P.A.) ACTION IN WELLINGTON. HOUSE LIKE A FORTRESS. AVELLINGTON, December 18. Seven Chinese, suspected of smoking opium, were arrested in Haining Street in the early hours of this morning. It took two detectives and a constable never two hours to force an entry to the premises, which were barricaded like a fortress. The doors were covered with sheet iron and were doubly bolted with wood and iron bars. An entrance to the stairs was covered with a steel-lined trapdoor, worked with wires and ropes. The windows were boarded and covered inside and out with a diamond mesh steel netting. The detectives forced their way through steel mesh and timber.