Crackdown on Opium Smuggling
A federal grand jury indicts four men, including a longtime steamer employee, for smuggling large quantities of opium into the region.
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.
The United States grand jury yesterday returned four true bills against men charged with smuggling opium: George Mansur, arrested November 23 with thirty-two pounds; Harry Rogers, arrested December 3 with sixteen pounds; Ah Bam, arrested October 4 with eight pounds; and C. N. Earle, arrested October 3 with forty pounds. Mansur, who is out on bond, immediately came into court and pleaded guilty. Ah Bam had been employed for over ten years on the steamer Al-Ki and is suspected of having systematically smuggled opium during the greater portion of that time. C. N. Earle was arrested in Jefferson County by Officer Frank P. Loftus.
“The Chinaman had been for over ten years employed on the steamer Al-Ki and is suspected of having systematically smuggled opium.”
The smuggling of opium was a focal point of federal law enforcement in the Pacific Northwest in the 1890s, often serving as a pretext for the targeted harassment and surveillance of Chinese maritime workers. This legal activity occurred against a backdrop of increasing exclusionary pressures on Chinese immigrants in the region.
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