Customs Raid Finds Illicit Opium in Walla Walla
Law enforcement seized $1,000 worth of smuggled opium from Chinese business houses in a coordinated sting operation.
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Messrs. George Savage and F. H. Oliver, customs inspectors for the district, with the assistance of the police and the sheriff, today visited the Chinese business houses in Walla Walla for the purpose of ascertaining if any smuggled opium was concealed on their premises. The contraband stuff was found in all sorts of hiding places, old trunks, boxes, beneath the floors, etc., and over one hundred five-tael boxes were found, on some of which were stamps that had been used before, the collector's signature having been erased and re-written. The total value of opium seized reaches about $1,000.
“The contraband stuff was found in all sorts of hiding places, old trunks, boxes, beneath the floors, etc.”
This report highlights the era's aggressive and racially targeted enforcement of morality laws, which often served as a pretext for harassment in Washington's Chinese communities. Today, these historical accounts provide a sober look at the institutionalized discrimination that shaped early civic policy in the inland Northwest.
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