The Opium Ring That Terrified the Sound
A dark-complexioned gentleman with a sloop and a mission is dismantling smuggling rings in Puget Sound, proving that federal authority was reaching even the remote corners of Washington Territory.
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.
IN LAST TACOMA AGAIN, May 19. A very dark-complexioned gentleman has recently become a more or less familiar figure in certain sections of the port of entry. Under his garb of harmless and jocund mediocrity is concealed an astuteness which bids fair to bring terror to the hearts of offenders against the revenue laws. He is clothed in proper authority and his particular mission is to bring to justice the numerous opium smuggling rings who infest the Sound region.
Although very reticent, certain maverick facts have been indirectly gleaned through this person in regard to the movements of a well-known adroit combination. It is the Gardner Terry ring resuscitated into new life. Besides the partners above mentioned, Whaley, of fraudulent Chinese certificate fame in San Francisco, and one McLean, are the active members. About the time that Gardner went over to Victoria some ten days ago, Whaley and McLean also arrived there from San Francisco on the ocean steamer.
The redoubtable quartette went immediately to work and already have safely sent in to the country 40 pounds of the contraband. Encouraged in success a sloop of between four and five tons has been purchased, and a thriving and exceedingly respectable summer business is anticipated. It is thought that the most popular route at present is over the Canadian Pacific striking into the United States little east of Osoyoos, but the purchase of the sloop referred to indicates that the Sound will be most depended on.
This 1888 account of federal agents using covert tactics and small boats to combat cross-border smuggling offers a fascinating parallel to modern border enforcement strategies. It highlights how Washington’s geography—its intricate waterways and international borders—has long made it a focal point for illicit trade, from opium then to drugs today.
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