E 10-
Were ever discovered, it would however be interesting to know what arrangements had been made to pass this cargo through the Customs in Shanghai, there were only two cases in the consignment, so presumably one would have had to be opened for inspection in the ordinary course, when the opium would have been found at once, as the contents of the cases were balls of opium only wrapped up in oiled paper.
The Philippines and U.S.A.
As was perhaps to be expected after the discoveries made last year and the use made by the local authorities of the information gathered here, smuggling to the Philippines was little heard of during the year, and no seizures were made of opium destined for that country. Many indications were found however that the trade to the United States was very active. A good many seizures were made in New York from ships arriving from Hong Kong, this is a new destination, most of the opium smuggled in having hitherto gone via Pacific ports or Mexico. Stringent steps have been taken at the Pacific ports in Canada to prevent opium being introduced, and it has been reported to me that these measures have had a good effect, and that the smugglers now realise that at present any attempts to smuggle into Canada are very risky. In former days a good deal of opium intended for U.S.A. was introduced viâ Canada. On the Pacific coast the usual method adopted is to dump the opium overboard, sometimes miles out, and recover it afterwards by means of small craft.
An interesting series of documents was found in a search of a house relating to the import of prepared opium into the U.S.A. Accounts were found showing that the firm here purchased chests of Indian opium in Kwong Chow Wan had them boiled down there at an inclusive charge per chest, and sent presumably to Hong Kong, and finally introduced into U.S.A. and sold there, the proceeds being remitted to Hong Kong. During the last six months of 1925 the firm in question had shipped 17,285 taels of prepared opium to Seattle. The profit made on each transaction seems in each case dealt with to have been about 13 per cent, probably the capital invested could be turned over about five times in the year. The figures for a typical sale may be of interest, 330 tins each containing five taels sold for $11,114.896, the profit made being $1,577.99.
The following is a detailed account of the cost of 2,000 taels ready packed at Kwong Chow Wan, and afterwards sent to Hong Kong en route to U.S.A. about the middle of December, 1925.