Alex Josey - The Tenth Man

2020 Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Private Limited

First published in 1973 by Times Books International

Published by Marshall Cavendish Editions

An imprint of Marshall Cavendish International

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National Library Board, Singapore Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

Name(s): Josey, Alex.

Title: The tenth man : gold bar murders / Alex Josey.

Description: Singapore : Marshall Cavendish Editions, [2020] | First published in 1981 by Times Books International and subsequently compiled under Blood lust in 2009 by Marshall Cavendish Editions.

Identifier(s): OCN 1150779052 | e-ISBN 978 981 4893 57 2

Subject(s): LCSH: Trials (Murder)--Singapore. | Trials (Robbery)--Singapore. | Criminal justice, Administration of--Singapore--Cases.

Classification: DDC 345.595702523--dc23

Printed in Singapore

Murder is as old as history. Man discovered gold a long time ago but valued it little at the beginning. Today, men scheme, cheat, rob and kill to possess it, especially when the dull yellow, malleable metal is in the form of bars or coins.

How much gold remains to be discovered in the earth (and the oceans) is not known and cannot even be properly estimated, though calculations have been made about reserves in existing gold-fields. One thing is for sure: and that is that gold (like oil) cannot forever be squeezed or sucked out of the old rocks or picked out of the rivers: there must be a limit. For gold-lovers, however, there is the comforting thought that gold (unlike oil) is almost indestructible. Whereas most oil is burnt soon after discovery, gold for thousands of years has been treasured, hoarded and constantly used. Most of the thousands of tonnes of gold ever found still exist. Gold cannot be burnt. If lost or mislaid it is inevitably discovered again by someone or other, sooner or later. Slight particles of gold might be worn away, but the Egyptians have preserved gold ornaments, even gold chairs, for thousands of years. In Singapore, for a long time, the Consul for Saudi Arabia used a dinner set, plates, spoons, goblets, made entirely of gold.

Gold continues to turn up in the most unlikely places. In June 1980, gold was officially stated to have been found in Kelantan, in Malaysia. Across the other side of the world, in Brazil, about the same time, Deoclides Alberto de Limia, a prospector whod been searching for gold for 40 years dug up a nugget weighing almost seven kilogrammes in the Sierra Pelada gold-field in Para State. Twenty thousand gold-diggers promptly converged on the gold-field which was hopefully renamed Sierra Forada (Golden Sierra). Mr Deoclides Alberto de Limia sold his nugget for 42 million cruzeiros (then SGD$186,000).

Twice gold was believed to have been discovered in this part of the world, once in Malaya and again in Singapore. The first time was in 1853 when a group of Europeans dug deep at the foot of Mount Ophir. Several of the diggers died from malaria. No trace of gold was found. Twelve years later there was a rumour that gold had been found when a hill in Tanjong Pagar was blasted during construction work. The report proved to be false.

Smuggling, the third element in this wide-ranging story, is as old as the tax which the smugglers scheme to evade, as old as the law which forbids the export or import of the goods they smuggle across the frontiers. Throughout history the evasion of taxes and the flaunting of customs rules have irritated governments and profited smugglers. In 1736, the British made smuggling a felony, a crime which could be punished by a long prison sentence, or death. Smuggling was a dangerous game to play, though history has clothed it with romantic references to old caves in which brave smugglers stored their booty.

Nowadays in most countries, including Singapore, smuggling means the forfeiture of the seized goods, a heavy fine, and perhaps a jail sentence. Much depends upon the goods smuggled. There is no need for anyone to smuggle gold into or out of Singapore. The law has been changed since the date of the murder described in this book. But if you are caught smuggling a certain amount of heroin into Singapore (and many other countries) the mandatory sentence is death. Several male and female smugglers have been found with heroin in their possession, and have been hanged.

Being a world famous port, a centre of communications, Singapore has known many types of smugglers. Fifty years or so ago, when the export of rubber was restricted, planters and dealers were tempted to smuggle out more than the quota permitted. They did not consider themselves criminals, although they were breaking the law. Tin smugglers who illegally export ore from Malaysia and Indonesia to Singapore for re-export, likewise look upon themselves more as speculators than law-breakers, whereas they are, of course, engaged in the worldwide illegal business of smuggling.

Old-time smuggling is often associated in peoples minds with bootlegging, the term applied to the smuggling of illicit liquor. Bootlegging is an old name which goes back to the days when a smuggler concealed a bottle or two of brandy or wine in his large sea-boots. The term bootlegging was revived in the 20th century when alcohol was smuggled into the United States of America during the period of prohibition. In the end there was nothing romantic about it: bootlegging became a degenerate, large-scale industry and racket which afforded equal opportunity for the smuggling of poisonous concoctions peddled under false labels, and drugs and narcotics.

Involved in this story of gold, smuggling and murder is a man who smuggled gold bars out of Singapore, and his beautiful daughter who later smuggled drugs to London. The man was murdered in Singapore by a gang of greedy men. The girl was sent to jail for 14 years by a British judge who described her as being little less than an assassin.