Summary Illicit Transactions and Seizures
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
[Distributed to the Council and Official No. : C. 976. M. 541. 1931. XI. the Members of the League.] [O.C.294 (£).] Geneva, October 1st, 1931. LEAGUE OF NATIONS ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON TRAFFIC IN OPIUM AND OTHER DANGEROUS DRUGS SUMMARY OF ILLICIT TRANSACTIONS AND SEIZURES REPORTED TO THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS BETWEEN JULY 1st AND OCTOBER 1st, 1931. PART I. CASES REPORTED IN PREVIOUS SUMMARIES IN REGARD TO WHICH FURTHER INFORMATION HAS REEN RECEIVED. Note.— The first three cases are unnumbered owing to the fact that they refer to seizure reports contained in previous summaries in which no serial numbers were used. The remaining cases in Part I rarrv numbers corresponding to those given to the same cases in documents O.C.294(g ) (C.279.M.130. 1931.XI) and O.C.294 f/t; (C.734.M.339.1931.XI). Seizure at Brisbane on February 29th, 1928, ex the “ Miho Maru See O.C.1050 and ^ 7"/ie Japanese Government reports (September 11th, 1931) that the O.C.294(êj, pp. 28-J9. iajjei marked Torii & Co., of Tokio, with the number 01374 on it, was 14593/157 recognised as being a label of this firm, but that investigations showed that the company never put such a number on their labels. It was impossible to discover who had numbered the label, and therefore it was difficult to trace the dealer who smuggled the drug. Another of the labels bore the certificate of the Imperial Hygienic Laboratory, with the number 7984 and the date of August 1927. According to the investigations made by the Osaka Hygienic Laboratory, this number was put on the 141 bottles of 25 grammes each and 2 bottles of 5 grammes each filled on the application of Gohei Ianake, of Osaka. The Japanese authorities have made minute enquiries at all the dealers to whom these bottles of cocaine have been sold, but were unable to trace the smugglers. Enquiries with regard to the other labels connected with this case have also led to no result. The ship’s captain and officers were also questioned with regard to the seizure, but they all denied any knowledge of the affair. The former captain stated, in reply to the questions put to him, that, at the time of the discovery of the drugs by the Australian authorities, the most thorough investigation was made, and it was thought that the drugs might have been placed in the ship after reaching the port of Brisbane. Seizure of Opium at Vancouver, May 18th, 1929 : Brooks, Knowles, Lee-Chee- Yung Case. 11 " Un(i T/ie Canadian Government states (August 13th, 1931) that Lee Chee ■ (I), PP- 66-67. Yung (alias Albert Lee), who was responsible for the landing of the opium 30477/157. at Vancouver, was recently arrested in Toronto, practically two years after he had disappeared from Vancouver. He was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment and a fine of $300, or, in default of payment, to serve a further term of three months’ imprisonment. Photographs of the tins seized show labels bearing the Lo Fook Kee, Two Flags and Cock and Eagle marks. Seizure carried out at Split, April 26th, 1929. 0CinRoz T/ie Greek Government supplied the Secretariat with the following 0.C.i062(6j additional particulars on August 26th, 1931 : o'c me! “ The case has been investigated by the Athens police authorities. O.C.’294(iV ' 36 An examination of Messrs. C. Photiadès, Son and Company’s p' ‘ correspondence with Moutsopoulos has made it clear that this firm was 15338/157. acting in good faith and was merely a forwarding agent carrying out instructions regarding a case of ‘ pharmaceutical supplies As soon it learned, through its correspondents in Trieste, of the real contents of the case in question, lost no time in disclaiming all responsibility and stated in writing that its client Xvas responsible for any consequences. The activities of the latter, on the other hand, are already known to the Criminal investigation Department in the Piraeus. This is not the first time that Moutsopoulos has . n implicated in illicit transactions. In this case, however, no criminal proceedings can be instituted against him, as it is impossible to obtain the slightest proof, or even indication, of nis guilt under Greek law. Under the law on the narcotics monopoly, the clandestine import or attempted import 0 drugs into Greece is punished with great severity. It would, however, scarcely seem possible to base the presumption of such an attempt on the fact that the case of cocaine was successively transported from Constantinople to Trieste, r"m Trieste to Brindisi and ultimately to Split.” d.N. 570 (F.) 545 (A.) 12/31. Imp. Réunies, Chambéry. — 4 — No. 47.—Seizure of Cocaine at Rangoon, on August 11th, 1930, ex the S.S. ' ‘ Ra See O.C.1273 and^ The British representative on the Advisory Committee forwarded O.C.294 (g), p. 1 /. (letter undated) the following information received from the Japanese 23113/157. Government : As there were no numbers on the Osaka Hygienic Laboratory labels which were attached to the cocaine seized from the above boat, the investigation has" finally proved unsuccessful. No. 48.—Seizure of Cocaine at Calcutta on May 14th, 1930, ex the S.S. ‘ ‘ Nam Sang ", See O.C.1274 and The British representative on the Advisory Committee (letter O.C.294fg^, p. 17. undated) forwarded the following information received from the Japanese 23110/157. Government : The route of the illicit traffic is unknown. With reference to the “ Fujitsuru brand seized, although investigation as to the source of this brand has been carried out in the past, it has hitherto proved impossible to discover the place of manufacture ; but it is probably outside Japan. Not only is the “ Globe ” brand label, seized from the same boat, not the mark of the Koto Seiyaku Co., but it has been impossible to discover its source in Japan. No. 49.—Seizure of Cocaine at Bombay on June 26th, 1930, ex the " Celebes M am ”, See O.C.1275 and The British representative on the Advisory Committee forwarded O.C.294fy^, p. 1 /. (letter undated) the following information from the Japanese Government: 23111/157. In May 1930, Mohaclii Nagasuga, the smuggler of the goods, offered to buy cocaine illicitly from Shutaro Koike, who wras at that time in Kobe. Koike consented, bought the cocaine illicitly from Shuki Susami, of Osaka, brought it to Nagasuga’s house, repacked it in ice-bags, when Nagasuga smuggled it to Bombay. On account of the death of Susami, it has not been possible to examine the case in connection with him, but it has been sent to the Public Procurator’s office at Kobe. No. 50.—Seizure of Cocaine at Calcutta on June 26th, 1930, ex the ' ‘ Morioka Maru See O.C.1276 and The British representative on the Advisory Committee forwarded the O.C.294^;, p. 18. following information received from the Japanese Government : 23112/157. It is not known where the accused, Shigeru Amatsu, a Japanese sailor on board the Morioka Maru, obtained the cocaine. No. 56.—Seizure of Cocaine at Calcutta on August 8 th, 1930, ex the “ Seattle Maru ”. See O.C.1279 and The British representative on the Advisory Committee forwarded O.C.294fg>, pp. 19-20. (]etter undated) the following information received from the Japanese 13336/157 Government In collusion writh Toyojiro Kokurgo (a mixed provision merchant, of Kidderpore, Calcutta), Kinjiro Yakushiji (a wholesale cloth merchant, of Osaka) and Goro Sato (a wooden-box merchant, of Kobe) bought 125 ounces of cocaine hydrochloride from Kichijiro Yamanaka, a druggist of Osaka, and. describing it as rice and provisions, requested Kiichi Okabe, a shipping agent of Kobe, to despatch it. It was sent to India on the Seattle Maru with the false names of the “ Maruyama Co. ” and “ S. Yamanoto as consignor and consignee respectively. Yakushiji and Sato have been sentenced to two months penal servitude each and Yamanaka to one month. As Soichiro Okugawa, an employee in the shop of Y'akushiji, has been sentenced by the Indian court, and Yakushiji is at present resident in British India, no further action is being taken against either of them for the present. No. 59.—Illicit Traffic between Austria and Egypt : Friedmann-Chaskes-Glickmann Case. See series O.C.1284, The Austrian Government states (July 20th, 1931) that the following and o c *29^fh I^p " ’ sentences were pronounced against the persons implicated in this affair in Austria : Ludwig Auer to four months’ imprisonment and a fine ot 18570/157. 12,000 schillings, or, in default, a further 120 days’ imprisonment, Trajan Schor, two months’ imprisonment and a fine of 3,000 schillings together with expulsion from Austrian territory ; Mechel Halpern, three months’ imprisonment and a fine of 5,000 schillings, or, in default, a further 100 days’ imprisonment and expulsion, Gabriel Weinstein, one month’s imprisonment and a fine of 600 schillings, or, in default: a further thirty days’ imprisonment and expulsion ; Sonia Friedmann, one month s imprisonment and a fine of 6,000 schillings, or, in default, a further sixty days’ imprisonment and expulsion ; Hussein el Neanai and Nathan Altmann had already been sentenced (see document O.C.294(g), p. 20). — 5 — No. 198.—Seizure of Prepared Opium at New York ex the S.S. " Raby Castle ”, on January 29th, 1931. See O.C.S.3 and The Portuguese Government states (August 26th, 1931) that the O.C.294(h), p. results of the enquiries instituted by the authorities at Macao into this •26506/157. case show that the label “ Yick Kee Macao ” is not authentic and that this is once more a case of fraud practised by traffickers outside the colony, in order to put off the track any authorities making enquiries into the case.