C. 19. M. 1 9. 1946. XI. [O.C.S. 300 (w).] Geneva, February 16th, 1946. LEAGUE OF NATIONS ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON TRAFFIC IN OPIUM AND OTHER DANGEROUS DRUGS SUMMARY OF ILLICIT TRANSACTIONS AND SEIZURES DURING 1942 REPORTED TO THE SECRETARIAT OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS NOTE BY THE SECRETARIAT As stated in the explanatory note to the Summary of Seizures and Illicit Transactions relating to the second half of 1941 (document C.78.M.78.1945.XI [O.C.S.300(u)]), the Secretariat has decided to group the reports on seizures received during the years 1942 to 1944 in a single document for each year. In view of the delay with which, owing to the war, certain reports were received, the Secretariat has also modified the system followed hitherto for the preparation of the Summary. In normal times, reports on seizures were incorporated in the Summaries according to the date on which they were communicated to the Secretary- General. Thus, reports despatched during the second half of 1941 were included in the Summary for that period, even if the seizures were effected on an earlier date. This method proved to be unsuitable owing to the fact that it would not have allowed of the inclusion in the Summaries for the years 1942 and 1943 of numerous reports on seizures which, though effected during that period, were not communicated to the Secretariat until 1944 or 1945. In order not to delay the insertion of the above-mentioned reports in the Summary, it has been decided, in preparing the Summaries for 1942, 1943 and 1944, to take account only of the date on which the seizure was made. Nevertheless, certain exceptions to this principle had to be admitted in the case of seizures relating to 1941, mention of which could not be included in the Summary for the second half of 1941, as the relevant reports were not transmitted to the Secretary-General until 1942 or 1943. Such cases are therefore included in the present document. 4650. — S.d.N. 695 (F.), 625 (A.), 6/46. Imp. Granchamp, Annemasse (144) — 3 — PART I CASES REPORTED IN PREVIOUS SUMMARIES IN REGARD TO WHICH FURTHER INFORMATION HAS BEEN RECEIVED No. 2023. — Seizure at Rouses Point, New York, July 26th, 1937. Further results of Judicial Proceedings. Information contained in the Annual Report of the Government of the United States of America for 1941. References : In February 1941, at Brooklyn, New York, Cohen, Lorber, loln'rari. Angelson, and Bernstein were convicted and the following sentences U.u./A.n.iy41 /ol ! • j 11 C.160.M.145.1940.XI imposed on them : [O.C.S.300 (r)], pages 2 , . , , ,, and 15, Nos. 972 and 1849 ; AI Angelson, imprisonment for three years. C.54.M.54.1942.XI Philip Cohen, imprisonment for ten years. [0.c.s.300(«)], page 17, Sam Bernstein, imprisonment for ten years. O A O Q • • • i\o. ojzj. Abe Lorber, imprisonment for six years. Emanuel Weiss could not be tried in this or in the Dallas, Texas, case as he was then a fugitive from justice. Shortly after his indictments in March and May 1940, on narcotic charges, Weiss, along with Louis Buchalter and one Louis Capone, had been indicted in the State court in Kings County, New York, for murder ; and Weiss disappeared, forfeiting substantial bond. After being the subject of a country-wide search by law-enforcement agencies, he was apprehended by Narcotic agents in Kansas City, Missouri, in April 1941 and was taken to New York. There the Government deferred trial of Weiss on narcotic charges in order to enable the State authorities to prosecute the murder case against him, Buchalter, and Capone. (In the meantime, Buchalter had been taken from the penitentiary where he was serving his sentence of imprisonment for twelve years on narcotic charges, and was prosecuted and sentenced in March 1940 in New York County to imprisonment from thirty years to life for extortion, this term to be served after completion of the sentence of twelve years.) With the apprehension of W^eiss, Buchalter was again taken from the Federal penitentiary, and after another trial in which Narcotic officers actively participated as witnesses, Buchalter, Weiss, and Capone were, in November 1941, convicted of first-degree murder and subsequently sentenced to die in the electric chair. Their appeals are pending. Incident to their investigation of Emanuel Weiss, Narcotic officers were able to capture at St. Louis, Missouri, in July 1941, and to turn over to New York authorities another fugitive in the criminal organisation “ Murder, Inc. ”, one Jacob Migden. Migden, a close associate of Weiss and a companion during a portion of his flight from justice, was apprehended after he had undergone a major plastic surgery operation in an endeavour to alter his features beyond recognition. Philip Cohen, one of the persons referred to above as a co-defendant of Emanuel Weiss in a narcotic case, and who is serving a sentence of imprisonment for ten years on Federal narcotic law violations, also has murder charges pending against him in New York. This brings to three the number of narcotic violators apprehended by the Bureau of Narcotics and delivered to New York authorities to be tried for murder in connection with “ Murder, Inc. ”, An incidental development from the investigation of the Buchalter-Weiss group was the disclosure of evidence indicating that one Walter Hooper had been the Pacific coast narcotic representative of some of these persons. Hooper, a convicted narcotic law violator and mail-car burglar, was arrested in June 1941 and subsequently sentenced to imprisonment for five years. PART II A. REPORTS ON THE DISCOVERY OF CLANDESTINE MANUFACTURE OF NARCOTIC DRUGS B. NEW CASES OF SEIZURES DIVIDED INTO THE FOLLOWING GROUPS : 1. R a w O p iu m . 5. Coca L e a v e s a n d C o c a in e . 2. P r e p a r e d O p iu m a n d D r o s s . 6. I n d ia n H e m p . 3. M o r p h in e . 7. M iscellaneous . 4. H e r o in . A. REPORTS ON THE DISCOVERY OF CLANDESTINE MANUFACTURE OF NARCOTIC DRUGS No. 2137. — Discovery of a gang of traffickers involved in illicit manufacture of morphine and heroin at Rami, suburb of Istanbul. Reports communicated by the Turkish Government, February 25th and March 22nd, 1943. Reference: 1 (a). Morphine hydrochloride : 77 grammes. O.C.S./Conf. 1460and 1460(a). Heroin : 446.6 gram m es. Mixture of morphine and heroin : 730 grammes. Apparatus and ingredients for clandestine manufacture. 3. The Istanbul Judicial Police apprehended a gang of traffickers, some of the members of which were arrested in the act of illicitly manufacturing morphine and heroin in a house in the neighbourhood of Rami, a suburb of Istanbul. The chief leaders of this clandestine organisation are two brothers named Ahmed Kavala and Hüsnü Kavala. The former is in custody of the police, whilst the latter has, for the time being, succeeded in evading arrest. These two traffickers, who are old offenders, had rented a room in the house of a certain Fehim Yeçildag, a dairyman, where they set up a rudimentary portable apparatus which could be packed into a single box. The enquiry showed that the undertaking was still in its early stages and manufacture had started only some three weeks before the police raid. The traffickers had thus not had time to dispose of their products in any large quantities on the illicit market. One of their assistants, named Barkev Taçciyan, was arrested with 250 grammes of heroin in his possession, whilst another, named Cevad Salkôk, had in his possession 50 grammes of heroin at the time of his arrest. Lastly, a third distributor, Arabaci Kâzim, was in possession of only an insignificant quantity of the same drug. In the room where the manufacture wras carried on, the search made by the police led to the discovery, not only of the apparatus and ingredients essential for operations of this kind, but also of the following drugs — namely, 77 grammes of morphine hydrochloride, 33 grammes of heroin and 730 grammes of a mixture of morphine and heroin. The enquiry further showed th at a medical student named Selim Takirdici wras a member of the gang and probably acted as its technical expert. Two other traffickers who were selling by retail the substances produced in the factory set up by Ahmed Kavala have been apprehended by the Istanbul Detective Force. The individuals in question, both hawkers and formerly convicted traffickers, are Osman Durmus and Cevat (Djevad) Salkôk. Osman Durmus was arrested in the act of selling for £T.l a packet containing 0.27 gramme of heroin. A search of his residence led to the discovery of other packets weighing, in all, 26 grammes. On being questioned, Osman stated that he had bought the drug from Cevat Salkôk. The latter had in his possession 27.97 grammes of the same drug and also had a further 59.35 grammes hidden at his residence. Cevat finally admitted that the drug had been supplied to him by Hüsnü Kavala. Hüsnü Kavala is as yet out of reach of prosecution, but the police are on his track and it is hoped that he will be arrested shortly. 4. The case was brought before the Istanbul Public Prosecutions Office, which has opened an enquiry the result of which will be communicated in due course. B. NEW CASES OF SEIZURES 1. RAW OPIUM No. 2138. — Theft of narcotic drugs from the Central Warehouse of the Ministry of Hygiene and Health at La Paz.