Copy.
Enclosure No. 1.
16
No prosecution has been instituted under section 21(3) of the Opium Ordinance (Ordinance 30 of 1923) except in cases where the quantity of opium was great, where it was not mentioned in the ships manifest as cargo, even under a false declaration, where it was found concealed in a place on board to which only the crew had access, and where it
was considered that reasonable precautions had not been taken
by the officers to prevent its being brought on board or to
detect the place where it was concealed.
2.
The nature of the place of concealment in the
following actual instances would clearly justify prosecution
under the sub-section though this was not in many instances
possible owing to the opium having been removed before the
hiding place was discovered.
2. A hole cut in the engine floor, a door fixed and
covered over with a long plank which had no reason to be
there, and over which the engineer would walk many times a
day.
b. Part of the chief tank for drinking water cut off by
the formation of a large secret compartment for the stowage
of opium.
C.
The donkey boiler filled up with large packages of
opium and the manhole door of the boiler not properly screwed
home; the donkey boiler being generally used while in port
but occasionally not.
d. Part of a bunker cut off to form a partition for the
stowage of opium, the bulkhead being cut through, and a large
plate taken out, and so fitted as to serve as a door easily
removable, the cargo being specially stowed away from the
bulkhead to allow easy access and a secret door being made
in the floor of the engine room store to give access to the
door in the bulkhead.
e.