The Opium Smuggler's Revenge
A Whatcom man claims he was framed by corrupt officials in a botched smuggling sting, and he's ready to tell all in court.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
When E. M. Jenkins, of Whatcom, comes to trial in the United States court on the charge of smuggling 200 five-tael opium cans into the United States, he promises to spring a sensation which may worry Deputy Collector of Customs M. F. Maloney and Deputy Sheriff Conlin. Jenkins claims that the entire affair is a scheme put up by Maloney and Conlin, in which he was the dupe. His account alleges that Conlin approached him to secure opium, and when Jenkins—who possessed no opium—drove to meet them, he was ambushed and arrested. The cans seized were found to contain only a mixture of tar, molasses, and sawdust. Jenkins contends that he is the victim of a frame-up by officials looking for a promotion and a reward, and that they have since threatened him to keep his mouth shut about the incident.
“If I go there will be two of us at the same time.”
Public corruption and the 'War on Drugs' often intersected in the Pacific Northwest in ways that mirrored late 19th-century political gamesmanship. Jenkins' claims of a 'setup' by local law enforcement to secure glory and bounty payments echo contemporary debates about civil asset forfeiture and the integrity of incentivized policing.
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