Customs Officials Intercept Opium Shipment
Inspector John A. Plum uncovers a sophisticated smuggling operation involving opium hidden within a picture frame on a train bound for Montana.
Twenty-five cans of opium were seized by customs officers at the Northern Pacific express office. The opium, of the best grade, was discovered after Inspector John A. Plum grew suspicious of a package shipped from Sumas. The package, addressed to parties in Butte, Montana, contained a flat box with a cheap picture in a deep frame. The frame was constructed with a hidden layer specifically designed to hold the cans of opium, smuggling them across the British Columbia border.
“Underneath the frame was found a layer of opium cans, the box having been made just the thickness of the can deeper than necessary to hold the picture.”
The role of Seattle as a transit hub for goods—both legal and illicit—has shifted in focus but remains a constant of the city's geography.
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