Police Trap #18

In 1859 New York, a man named Johnny Devine is shanghaied into service on a ship after being drugged at a saloon—only to discover he's been victimized by the very trade he'll later master. After reaching San Francisco and fighting his way to prominence, Devine reinvents himself as the "Shanghai Chicken," the most ruthless crimper on the Barbary Coast, using opium-laced drinks and brute force to supply unwilling sailors to desperate ship captains. As his reputation grows and rivals challenge his dominance, Devine proves willing to do whatever it takes to control the lucrative shanghaiing racket.

When a man bitter about his place in the world cons his way into an ambitious film production scheme, he uses the movie set as cover for something far more sinister—a meticulously planned bank robbery. As his unsuspecting leading lady and his hardened criminal associates rehearse what they believe is a heist scene for the cameras, real police stumble onto the warehouse, and Harry Loomis's carefully constructed deception begins to unravel in ways he never anticipated. This 1964 tale from Police Trap shows how one con artist's grand plan collides with the very real consequences of his own ruthlessness.