In 1936, Maria Wendt arrived in the United States from Shanghai laden with nearly 25kg of heroin, causing a media sensation and adding fuel to America’s war on drugs. Was she an innocent mule or part of an international cartel? When a 23-year-old Eurasian woman calling herself Maria Wendt touched down at an airfield near Los Angeles in 1936, the press flocked onto the runway to capture the first images of her descending from the plane. Pathé, Reuters, Gaumont, all sent crews to capture the “woman of mystery” who had made fools of the FBI, who were none too happy about it.
As the woman was escorted away by plain-clothes policemen, she pulled down her black hat to cover her face and wrapped her coat tight around her. The pressmen shouted questions. She ignored them.
Not even a “No comment”. A newsreel soon played at cinemas across the country with the voice-over: “A woman of mystery is aboard this plane. She is Maria Wendt, daughter of a Shanghai merchant, a dope smuggler, accused of bringing opium into America from China.
Uncle Sam accuses her of being part of a big international narcotics smuggling gang.” And Maria had been caught smuggling drugs into America. A lot of drugs.
Sliced open at the San Pedro docks, her two cowhide trunks were found to be hiding silk bags containing 24.5kg of heroin worth US$375,000 (US$8.5 million in 2024 money) and perhaps US$1 million (US$23 million in 2024) when cut and sold on the street.
It was the largest drug haul ever made.