Bogus Books

How Indian Hemp Was Smuggled into Fiji

AN ingenious system of smuggling “Indian hemp” (a forbidden nar cotic) into Fiji through the Post Of fice, was discovered recently, and one of the Indians concerned was fined £lOO.

For some time, the authorities sus pected that the drug was entering the Colony in considerable quantities, but the method of transport was long a my stery. Then the attention of someone was directed to the number of Indian magazines coming in by post, and soon the whole plan was uncovered.

Certain people in India kept a stock of old Bombay railway timetables—thick, chunky books. They cut the centre por tion right out of them, leaving the covers and edges of the pages intact, and into each little compartment thus created they put two ounces of Indian hemp wrap ped in a sheet of rubber. The timetable was then carefully covered, so that it looked like a magazine, and was pre pared for posting.

Meanwhile, in Fiji, other Indians had rented a number of Post Office letter boxes. By each mail, there arrived what apparently were Indian magazines, ad dressed to what apparently were mem bers of the Indian community. The cus toms and postal clerks did not attempt to examine them, and sorted them at once into the boxes to which they were ad dressed. Actually, the names were all fictitious, and the boxes were all rented by one gang.

In May, the Fiji police set a watch upon certain postal boxes; and an In dian named Bhirgu was caught when taking the packages out of one box, while the key of another box, also con taining packages of the drug, was in his hand. Bhirgu declared that he was merely acting for another Indian, Chotk han: but Bhirgu had been caught, and

Chotkhan was not, so Bhirgu, on June 13, was fined £lOO, or four months’ gaol.

Thus, for the moment, has the In dian hemp trade in Fiji been broken up.