E 3
due to the decreased scale of rewards for information, or it may be that the smuggling and smoking of opium is on the decline.
The main source of supply appears to have been Kwong Chow Wan and it is probable that raw opium from Yunnan Province found a readier means of export by the Southern Route than through the Province of Kwangsi. An extract from the South China Morning Post of the 22nd August, 1935, states "Kwangsi has been impoverished by the stoppage of the flow of opium from Yunnan the route having been altered so that it now passes through Kwei Chow and Hunan. General Wang Chao Hung has seen to it that part but not all of narcotics shall be routed through Kwangsi in future so that this province may regain some of its lost transit fees".
The main business of smuggling was in the hands of highly organized syndicates who usually arranged for the transfer of such opium from ship to junks (sometimes outside Colonial Waters) from whence it was sub-divided amongst a horde of attendant sampans, some of which acted as decoys, and then landed at convenient depôts to be stored in the caves and hill-sides of Hong Kong and the surrounding islands.
One such opium dump was discovered on the island of Lamma towards the close of the year, when 2,386 taels of raw and 1,780 taels of prepared opium were found. A pit had been dug close to a fisherman's hut which was deserted before the Revenue Party could get ashore, but two revolvers and ammunition found there, indicated an intention on the part of the occupants to deal drastically with casual intruders.
Another favoured method was to dump a fairly large consignment of opium at some convenient spot on the sea-bed, and to retrieve enough at one time to fulfill the orders on hand.
The retail price of Chinese raw opium was a little lower than in 1933 and 1934 varying from $1.50 per tael to $2. The supply was plentiful and a steady stream flowed in via launches, junks and sampans and by train from Canton. There were a few cases of opium being dumped from the train en route at certain selected spots where accomplices were waiting to retrieve it.
Persian Raw Opium.
There were four major seizures of Persian Raw Opium constituting about six-sevenths of the total seized. One seizure revealed considerable ingenuity on the part of the smugglers,