Illicit Transactions and Seizures
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
[Communicated to the Council and Official No.: Q. 307. M. 190. 1 9 3 6 . XI. the M em bers of the League.] [Q:C.S.300 (a).] Geneva, July 22nd, 1936. LEAGUE OF NATIONS ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON TRAFFIC IN OPIUM AND OTHER DANGEROUS DRUGS SUMMARY OF ILLICIT TRANSACTIONS AND SEIZURES REPORTED TO THE SECRETARIAT OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS BETWEEN APRIL 1 s t AND JUNE 30t h , 1936 P A R T I. CASES REPORTED IN PREVIOUS SUMMARIES IN REGARD TO WHICH FURTHER INFORMATION HAS BEEN RECEIVED. No. 48 2 — Illicit Traffic in Drugs at Warsaw, January 1932. See O.C.294 (k), The Polish delegation at Geneva reports (May 20th, 1936) that the Pa£e294 Vuj1 result of the appeals lodged in connection with this case were the page's. ’ following : Michelis, the chemist, was sentenced to three years’ imprison ment and forbidden to excercise his profession and deprived of certain 24013/387. other rights for a period of five years. Stanislas Olechowski was sentenced to a year and a half’s imprisonment, and Marie Orlowska and Leon Haber to six months’ imprisonment. No. 1237.—Illicit Traffic by Members of the Crew of the s.s.“ Carola III ” in Collusion with Mohammed Mustafa el Garrahi and Others. See O.C.294 (u), The Central Narcotics Intelligence Bureau, Cairo, in its annual Pa=e 1 report for 1935, stated that a communication had been received from the 12616/387. German authorities to the effect that Gerdes, the cook on board the vessel who was deported to Hamburg on July 2nd, 1934, was not tried in view of the promulgation of the Law of Amnesty of August 7th, 1934. No. 1585.—Discovery of a Clandestine Drug Factory at Istanbul, June 1935. See O.C.294 (x), The Turkish Minister of Health and Social Welfare reports, November fuY* 19th, 1935, that Kémal,1 Fehmi, Moïse, Haralambo and Hadji Anto- page 4. niades,1 the persons implicated in this affair, were each sentenced to 0.C.S.250 series. a year and a half’s imprisonment and to a collective fine of £T 19,679 (47,230 Swiss francs). Another accused, Sultan, was sentenced to 18752/387. four months’ detention and a fine of £T6,559 (15,742 Swiss francs). The remaining delinquent, Eschref, was dismissed.. No. 1736.—Export of 3,300 kg. of Raw Opium from Turkey to Ethiopia during the First Six Months of 1934 and the First Three Months of 1935. See O.C.294 (y), The Greek delegation at Geneva received two reports on this case (mTss^O na»e 4 from the Ministry of Finance, and more particularly from a member o!c!s!236’ series. ’ °f the special service for the prevention of drug smuggling. The information contained in the first report relates to the activities 17784/387. of a gang with headquarters at Istanbul, the chief members of which are said to be : (1) Nessim Tchiprout, (2) David Levy,2 (3) Nessim Kordovas,2 and (4) David Perez, all four living at Istanbul. The gang is said to have accom plices abroad, amongst other places, in Palestine, at Haifa, Beirut, and Marseilles, and in Corsica, Paris and America ; it concentrated formerly upon export, more particularly to France and America, in co-operation with the notorious smuggler Marcos Theodorides.3 After the creation of the Monopoly in Turkey, this gang got into touch with certain employees of the Monopoly Service, and purchased opium for consignment to countries not subject to the Geneva International Convention. The opium was transhipped in course of transport and was finally directed, not to the country to which it was originally consigned, but to countries parties to the Geneva Convention. To obtain the authorisation of the Turkish Monopoly, the traffickers deposited security equal to 25% of the value of the exported opium, which sum was to be returned to the exporters after delivery of the opium at its place of destination. The return of the deposit was never claimed by the traffickers, for the very good reason that the opium never reached its ostensible port of destination. According to information from the same source, the gang shipped its opium in the vessel Limni. It was taken on board at Istanbul, transhipped in Corsica to motor-launches, and subsrquently sent to Marseilles and thence to Paris for delivery to one of the gang’s accomplices named Toledo. Some 2,000 kg. of opium were (it is stated) shipped in this way by the Limni in March ^d June 1934, and it is probable that after transhipment in Corsica the consignment reached Marseilles. During the first quarter of 1935, 1,300 kg. (according to information from another s°urce, 500 kg.) was also shipped in the same vessel. This information was obtained in May ^See Case No. 188 of this docum ent. sSee document O.C.294fr;, page 7, Nos. 990 and 991. i ,’5e? documents O.C.294f/), page 14, No. 369 ; O.C.294fm>, pages 5 and 6, No. 577, page 6, Nos. 578 and 579, and page 7, No. i pao-e 11 Nos 740 and 742 pa°-e 13. No. 749, pages 13 and 14, No. 750 ; O.C.294(p), page 7, No. 831, page 11. No. O r'ok1 and V2- No. 848, and page 12, No. 852 ; O.C.294(q), page 10, Nos. 928 and 930 ; O.C.294M page 7,Nos, 989, 990,991 and ’ °-C.294fU, page 3, No. 746, and page 7, No. 1049 ; O.C.294fuA page 19, No. 1369 ; and O.C.294fx>, page 18, No. 1607. S.d.N. 850 (F.| 725 (A.) 8/36. — Imp. Réunies, Chambéry. _ 4 — 1935, and as a result a watch was kept by the special service for the prevention of smuggle in Greece on : (1) The shipping agent acting for the Limni at the Piræus ; (2) Marcos Theodo°- rides, who had come to Greece from Istanbul in 1934, and had been living there ever since ; (3) Phokias, the owner of the vessel ; (4) Nessim Tchiprout ; and (5) Nessim Kalderon1 (the latter also a member of the gang). At the beginning of July 1935, Tchiprout and Kordovas were staying at the Hotel Cosmo polite, Athens. Kordovas left for Palestine, and Tchiprout, coming from Istanbul, stayed in Athens from June 16th, 1935, onwards, and endeavoured to obtain an extension of his residence permit. On July 13th, 1935, he returned to Istanbul. Kordovas and Tchiprout combined to set up an agency at Haifa in association with Kalderon and Perez. Tchiprout returned to Athens on September 9th, 1935, and stayed at the Hotel Cosmopolite. The Limni is said to have touched at Haifa in February 1935. It also made a voyage to Russia without touching at the Piræus. The second report contains information from an official source regarding the movements of the vessel Limni. At the moment of writing the report, the Limni is at Suez, where it arrived from Massawa. It appears that the Limni did not arrive in Greece from Istanbul except during the period January-February 1935, when, while proceeding from Istanbul to Casablanca, the screw-shaft was damaged between Sapienza (Greece) and Corronani (Sicily), with the result that the screw was lost. The Limni was towed by a salvage vessel to Patras for repairs. It may be seen, therefore, that the Limni plied direct between Istanbul and foreign ports without calling in Greece. On the occasion when it was obliged to put in at Patras, the vessel was found to be carrying no cargo, and was subjected to a very thorough search, which, however, revealed nothing unusual. No. 1887.—Seizure of 60 kg. of Prepared Opium at Manila on September 5th, 1935, See O.C.294 (z), The Government of the United States of America reports (April pa£e I9- 14th, 1936) that a copy of the previous report on this case was forwarded 1281/388(165). to the Government of the United Kingdom in order that an investigation No. 450 (a). might be made in Hong-Kong regarding the consignor. An excerpt from the reply of the British Home Office, London, is as follows : The authorities at Hong-Kong were asked to make investigation regarding this case and it is now stated that the goods were shipped about August 30th, 1935, by Wing Hing firm of 99, Wing Lok Street, the export statement being signed by Tseng Loung. The address given was at once raided, but neither the firm nor the man were known there and no signboard was found. Further enquiries proved abortive and no further action was possible. No. 1909.—Seizure of 454 grammes of Morphine at San Francisco, October 10th, 1935. See O.C.294 (z), The Government of the United States of America stated, on June page 26. 9th, 1936, that a note had been received from the Japanese Foreign 1281/388(174). Office stating that the sender of the morphine seized in connection with No. 457 (a). this case was one Takahashi, of Osaka, but that it has been found impossible to ascertain his present whereabouts. No. 1935.—Seizure of 863 grammes of Cocaine at San Pedro, California, May 26th, 1935. See O.C. 294 (z), The Government of the United States of America forwarded, on June page 34. 22nd, 1936, the following supplementary information in regard to 1281/388(185). this case : No. 469 (a). This seizure was brought to the attention of the Japanese Government. As^a resultTof an investigation by the appropriate Japanese authorities, the United States Government was informed that the destination of the cocaine seized on the Tachibana Maru was believed to be Motomura & Co., at San Pedro.