Drugs trade / drug trafficking Books

Book SynopsisTO KNOW THE TRUE STORY BEHIND A WAR, ASK THE PEOPLE WHO FOUGHT IT 'An observation van is running surveillance on a high-level Bradford gangster. Suddenly the van is surrounded by men in balaclavas and tied shut. Out comes the can of petrol. It is set alight and the two cops inside barely escape with their lives. This incident is never reported. The gangsters clearly have informants inside the police and alerting the public would undermine the force. Everyone shrugs it off – with so much money in the drugs game, corruption is part and parcel of the whole deal' The Drug Wars have been fought on British streets for decades, bringing destruction, corruption and violence in their wake. Yet it is a story that remains fundamentally untold. Until now. In this groundbreaking book, former undercover police officer Neil Woods, who risked his life infiltrating some of the UK's most vicious gangs, pieces together the complex and terrifying reality of the drug war in Britain. Calling upon gripping first-hand accounts from those on both sides of the battle, Drug Wars is told by those who are fighting it.Trade ReviewAnyone who cares about Britain should read this extraordinary and riveting book. It will change how you see our country - and lots of things that seemed strange will start to make sense. -- Johann HariIf you want to understand how Britain succumbed to a self-defeating war on drugs benefiting only the most vicious gangsters, this book is the perfect primer with its highly-readable fusion of analysis, history and first person testimonies from the front line. -- Ian Birrell

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Book SynopsisAward-winning journalist - and author of Hello, Shadowlands - Patrick Winn reveals the inside story of a forbidden republic - the narco-state of the Wa The jagged mountains dividing China and Burma belong to the Wa, an indigenous group who have outwitted the CIA to create the world's mightiest narco-state, controlling more territory than Israel and with more troops than Sweden. Are they crime lords? Or visionaries? Wa State has become a real nation with its own highways, anthems, schools and flags. Its leaders promise a utopia, using profits from trafficking heroin and meth to attain what China's other frontier peoples, Tibetans and Uighurs, can only dream of: a state of their own. Patrick Winn (author of Hello, Shadowlands) embarks on a risky journey of discovery, chasing clues about the forbidden republic from Thailand to Burma to the secretive Wa State itself.Trade ReviewThose who fail to read this forsake their chance to know the truth * Roberto Saviano *An outstanding book packed with history, humour, and adventure. America's struggle to thwart them Winn is the perfect guide to these highland outlaws and their incredible, defiant narcostate. This is the best reportage to come out of Southeast Asia in years. * Graeme Wood, author of The Way of Strangers *A riveting portrait of a little-known and often vilified people; a harrowing tale of Asia's epic, multibillion-dollar drugs trade. * Thant Myint-U, author The Hidden History of Burma *Winn has made a riveting read out of the largely overlooked- but critically important- Wa State .... The history behind it, the masterminds pulling the strings, and the many CIA operations against them. It's a fascinating and incredibly well-researched dive into Asia's underworld and some of the greatest narcotics traffickers in the region. And above all, it's beautifully crafted storytelling. * Isobel Yeung *Unputdownable .... An authentic page-turner revealing why the global drug problem remains unsolved. * Khuensai Jaiyen, former secretary to drug lord Khun Sa *Part gangster saga, part espionage thriller, and part liberation epic, Winn's narrative alternates between rollicking adventure and harrowing violence conveyed in vivid, muscular prose. * Publishers Weekly *At times, Narcotopia reads like a satire from the mind of Joseph Heller ... Winn tells this complex story with admirable clarity and a healthy dose of humour, and has drawn on a huge range of CIA and DEA documents, 'some declassified, others acquired by creative means'. * The Daily Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisJoaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman is the most legendary of Mexican narcos. As leader of the Sinaloa drug cartel, he was one of the most dangerous men in the world. His fearless climb to power, his brutality, his charm, his taste for luxury, his penchant for disguise, his multiple dramatic prison escapes, his unlikely encounters with Sean Penn - all burnished the image of the world's most famous outlaw. He was finally captured by US and Mexican law enforcement in a daring operation that was years in the making. Here is that entire epic story - from El Chapo's humble origins to his conviction in a Brooklyn courthouse. Long-serving New York Times criminal justice reporter Alan Feuer's coverage of his trial was some of the most riveting journalism of recent years. Feuer's mastery of the complex facts of the case, his unparalleled access to confidential sources in law enforcement and his powerful understanding of disturbing larger themes - what this one man's life says about drugs, walls, class, money, Mexico and the United States - will ensure that this is the one book to read about El Chapo.

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Book SynopsisTHE RIVETING TRUE STORY OF HOW THE FBI BROUGHT DOWN THE FEARSOME MIGUEL TREVIÑO, LEADER OF LOS ZETAS, MEXICO'S MOST VIOLENT DRUG CARTEL.Drugs, money, cartels: this is what FBI rookie Scott Lawson expected when he was sent to the border town of Laredo, but instead he's deskbound writing intelligence reports about the drug war. Then, one day, Lawson is asked to check out an anonymous tip: a horse was sold at an Oklahoma auction house for a record-topping price, and the buyer was Miguel Treviño, one of the leaders of the Zetas, Mexico's most brutal drug cartel. The source suggested that Treviño was laundering money through American quarter horse racing. If this was true, it offered a rookie like Lawson the perfect opportunity to infiltrate the cartel. Lawson teams up with a more experienced agent, Alma Perez, and, taking on impossible odds, sets out to take down one of the world's most fearsome drug lords. In Bloodlines, Emmy and National Magazine Award-winning journalist Melissa del Bosque follows Lawson and Perez's harrowing attempt to dismantle a cartel leader's American racing dynasty built on extortion and blood money. Throwing back the curtain on the inner workings of cartel kingpins and law enforcement agencies, del Bosque turns more than three years of research and her decades of reporting on Mexico and the border into a gripping narrative about greed and corruption. Bloodlines offers us an unprecedented look at the inner workings of the Zetas and US federal agencies, and opens a new vista onto the changing nature of the drug war and its global expansion.

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Book SynopsisWinner of the 2018 PEN Translates Award for Non-Fiction Features illustrations by the Honduran artist Germán Andino Welcome to a country that has a higher casualty rate than Iraq. Wander streets considered the deadliest in the world. Wake up each morning to another batch of corpses – sometimes bound, often mutilated – lining the roads; to the screeching blue light of police sirens and the huddles of ‘red journalists’ who make a living chasing after the bloodshed. But Honduras is no warzone. Not officially, anyway. Ignored by the outside world, this Central American country is ravaged by ultra-violent drug cartels and an equally ruthless, militarised law force. Corruption is rife and the justice system is woefully ineffective. Prisons are full to bursting and barrios are flooded with drugs from South America en route to the US. Cursed by geography, the people are trapped here, caught in a system of poverty and cruelty with no means of escape. For many years, award-winning journalist Alberto Arce was the only foreign correspondent in Tegucigalpa, Honduras’s beleaguered capital, and he witnessed first-hand the country’s descent into anarchy. Here, he shares his experiences in a series of gripping and atmospheric dispatches: from earnest conversations with narcos, taxi drivers and soldiers, to exposés of state corruption and harrowing accounts of the aftermath of violence. Provocative, revelatory and at time heart-rending, Blood Barrios shines a light on the suffering and stoicism of the Honduran people, and asks the international community if there is more that they can do.Trade ReviewAlberto Arce writes with stunning power and pace. Under the most difficult circumstances, he tells stories from violence-torn Honduras with an authenticity that reveals to readers terrible realities and the victims, but with an elegance that suggests there are no false notes . . . [He is] a journalist who seems fearless. * American Society of News Editors *AP reporter Alberto Arce chronicled Honduras’ collapse into chaos in the aftermath of a coup in 2009. Arce’s stories uncovered government-sanctioned death squads, human rights abuses in prisons and corruption among police and military forces. Overcoming a lack of public records available to him, Arce persuaded sources to give him copies of government documents and developed sources within the government, military, court systems and NGOs. He befriended prison officials and gang members alike to gain access to areas they controlled. Arce was eventually pulled out of Honduras after he was warned his reporting would get him killed. * Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) *Arce is a kickass reporter. He writes with a searing honesty and an eye for detail that makes Blood Barrios as terrifying as it is impossible to put down. * Jon Lee Anderson, war correspondent for The New Yorker *It takes a true reporter – gutsy, bloody-minded, driven – to work the streets of Tegucigalpa. Alberto Arce’s ballsy, bravely-told account marks him out as the real deal. The world needs more reporters like Arce – who meet bullets with ink, head on. This is a troubling, gritty, brutally truthful book. * Oliver Balch, author of Viva South America! A Journey through a Restless Continent *It took courage for Arce to write what he did in such a lawless place – naming names. If he hadn’t, a lot of us who pay attention to what is happening in a region that ought to be of concern to Norteamericanos just wouldn’t know. * Tim Ferguson, Forbes and jury member for the Overseas Press Club Award *Reminiscent of The Wire. Blood Barrios is full of perceptive vignettes, each of which shows how cocaine trafficking, and the war on the traffickers, have sent the country spiraling into the abyss. Arce's tone is that of a journalist teetering on the brink of despair. * Tom Feiling, author of Short Walks from Bogotá: Journeys in the New Colombia *A brave, memorable book. One always hopes the pen will prove to be mightier than the gun, or the machete or the line of coke. In Honduras, I fear, one hopes in vain. * William Leith, Spectator *Table of ContentsMap: Routes of cocaine and violence in Honduras Part I: Red Journalism 1. Inside the Volcano 2. Crime beat Rookie 3. Night of the Chepos 4. Death of a Taxi Driver 5. Four Boards Strapped to the Back Part II: The Curse of Geography 6. A Little Known War 7. Mosquito Coast Part III: Houses, Coffins, and Graffiti 8. Refugee Camp 9. One Coffin, One Vote 10. Hallucinations 11. Night of the Fire Part IV: The Police 12. An Assassin 13. Death Squads 14. Police Reform 15. El Tigre Bonilla, A Culture of Simulacrum Part V: Storytellers 16. Journalists 17. The Politicians 18. Those Who Imagine Epilogue: What Am I Doing in Honduras?

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Book SynopsisThe war on drugs has failed, but consensus in the international drug policy debate on the way forward is missing. Amidst this moment of uncertainty, militarised lenses on the global illicit drug problem continue to neglect the complexity of the causes and consequences that this war is intended to defend or defeat. Challenging conventional thinking in defence and security sectors, Transforming the War on Drugs constitutes the first comprehensive and systematic effort to theoretically, conceptually, and empirically investigate the impacts of the war on drugs. The contributors trace the consequences of the war on drugs across vulnerable regions, including South America and Central America, West Africa, the Middle East and the Golden Crescent, the Golden Triangle, and Russia. It demonstrates that these consequences are 'glocal'. The war's local impacts on human rights, security, development, and public health are interdependent with transnational illicit flows. The book further reveals how these impacts have influenced the positions of governments across these regions, with significant ramifications for the international drug control regime. Crucially, it shows that, at a time when global order is in flux, critically evaluating the regime's securitisation through the war on drugs provides key insights into other global governance realms.Trade Review'A comprehensive and timely assessment which consolidates the various strands of the drug policy debate from both security and development perspectives. Engaging with regions which have not been thoroughly investigated, it is innovative, ambitious and original.' -- Sasha Jesperson, research analyst, Royal United Services Institute, and author of 'Militarised Responses to Transnational Organised Crime: The War on Crime''With important analyses, plausible theoretical insights, and a multifaceted assessment of the current "state of play," this book is a valuable contribution to the literature. Required reading for those wishing to acquire a comprehensive view of the current International Drug Control Regime.' -- William B. McAllister, Chief of the Special Projects Division, State Department Office of the Historian, and author of 'Drug Diplomacy in the Twentieth Century''An essential collection that not only highlights the true costs of the overly securitized global War on Drugs, but more importantly, offers urgently needed new perspectives in the debate over what could, and should, come next.' -- Peter Tinti, Senior Research Fellow, Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime'An enlightening, engaging effort to unpack the complexities of policymaking on drugs and nurture collective reflection on the need for more nuanced, people-centred and development-oriented approaches to drug policies. A must-read in a critical moment for the drug policy debate and beyond.' -- Deborah Alimi, independent consultant, Daleth research, and researcher, Université Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne

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Book SynopsisAnalysing one of the most controversial areas in public policy, this pioneering Research Handbook brings together contributions from expert researchers to provide a global overview of the shifting dynamics of drug policy. Chapters tackle a complex and cross-cutting issue from inter and multi-disciplinary perspectives, incorporating political science, history, law and public health into their analyses. Emphasising connections between the domestic and the international, this timely Research Handbook illustrates the intersections between drug policy, human rights obligations and the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. Integrating detailed discussion of ever-evolving drug markets, a diverse range of policy responses, and political and ideological tensions, the contributors offer an insightful analysis of the regional dynamics of drug control, its historic constructions, and the contemporary and emerging problems it is facing. Aimed at researchers and students interested in drug policy, as well as policy makers and practitioners at different levels of governance, the Research Handbook on International Drug Policy provides a much-needed comparative approach and will prove to be an essential resource for navigating the difficulties surrounding drug policy and control.Trade Review‘For both the drug-specific and the wider issues raised, the book is to be welcomed for its insights and examples and is a valuable addition to third wave literature.’ -- Blaine Stothhard, Journal of Illicit Economics and Development‘The editorship and a welcome international group of authors from six continents adding diverse interpretations to familiar discussions, wide thematic coverage, and reminders of the growing reform movement combine to make this an impressive collection. The book sees the hegemony of the global order as being increasingly 'disregarded' and is an important critical reminder that a human rights framework might not be the 'right fit' for international drug policy as the latter requires more worldly values of open debate, diversity, freedom, and equal participation of national governments in shaping policies.’ -- Blaine Stothard and Aysel Sultan, Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy‘At a critical time when drug laws are fundamentally starting to change from prohibition to regulation in a few countries, this book is timely and appropriate as it brings together a collection of writings of authors who not only cover the historical timespan of drug laws and the diversity of experience in different countries but do so in depth on the key issues in a style easily followed by the reader.’ -- Anand Grover, former UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health (2008–2014)Table of ContentsContents: Foreword xiii Hon. Louise Arbour Introduction: international drug policy in an era of growing complexity, challenge and tension xvi David R. Bewley-Taylor and Khalid Tinasti PART I HISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL DRUG CONTROL 1 Foundations of the international drug control regime: nineteenth century to the Second World War 2 William B. McAllister 2 The evolution of international drug control under the United Nations 19 Constanza Sánchez-Avilés and Ondrej Ditrych 3 Drug consumers and the formation of the international drug control apparatus 38 Christopher Hallam PART II THE GEOSPATIAL DIMENSIONS OF DRUG POLICY 4 North American drug policy: American and Canadian developments from the early twentieth century to today 54 Katharine Neill Harris 5 Latin America and the Caribbean: complicity and legacy of a long war 72 Juan Carlos Garzón and Ana María Rueda 6 Western and Central Europe: towards a cohesive model for drug policies? 94 Renaud Colson and Henri Bergeron 7 Documenting human rights violations is not enough to reform archaic drug policies in Eastern Europe and Central Asia 113 Mikhail Golichenko 8 Drug policy in Africa: a history of global and regional dynamics 131 Neil Carrier and Gernot Klantschnig 9 Drug use, policies and prohibition in Muslim countries 145 Khalid Tinasti 10 Drug policy in Asia: the origins and extremities of prohibition 163 Gloria Lai and Claudia Stoicescu 11 The changing tides of drug consumption, supply and drug policy in Oceania 185 Amber Marks and Caitlin Hughes PART III EMERGING TENSIONS WITHIN THE UN DRUG CONTROL SYSTEM AND BEYOND 12 The rise and fall of the “drug free world” narrative 206 Steve Rolles 13 Drug control and human rights: parallel universes, universal parallels 225 Julie Hannah and Rick Lines 14 Public health and international drug control: harm reduction and access to controlled medicines 248 Jennifer Hasselgard-Rowe, Naomi Burke-Shyne and Ann Fordham 15 Drugs and development: drug policies and the Global South 265 Julia Buxton 16 Bolivia, coca, culture and colonialism 283 Zoe Pearson 17 Regulating cannabis in Uruguay, the United States and Canada: is a social justice framework possible? 301 Zara Snapp and Jorge Herrera Valderrábano PART IV FUTURE CHALLENGES 18 The search for new drug policy metrics 325 Nazlee Maghsoudi, Justine Tanguay and Dan Werb 19 The NPS imposters, merging and emerging drug markets and the contribution of drug checking 341 Fiona Measham 20 Drug cryptomarket futures: structure, function and evolution in response to law enforcement actions 355 Patrick Shortis, Judith Aldridge and Monica J. Barratt Index 381

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Book SynopsisOpium's Orphans is the first full history of drug prohibition and the ‘war on drugs’. A no-holds-barred but balanced account, it shows that drug suppression was born of historical accident, not rational design. The war on drugs did not originate in Europe or the US, and even less with President Nixon, but in China. Two Opium Wars followed by Western attempts to atone for them gave birth to an anti-narcotics order that has come to span the globe. But has the war on drugs succeeded? As opioid deaths and cartel violence run rampant, contestation becomes more vocal, and marijuana is slated for legalization, Opium's Orphans proposes that it is time to go back to the drawing board.

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Book Synopsis'I WANTED TO SEND A MESSAGE TO THE CARTELS. WE KNOW WHO YOU ARE. WE KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING. WE'RE GOING TO MAKE IT HARD FOR YOU.BUT AS I WOULD SOON FIND OUT, THEY WERE GOING TO MAKE IT HARD FOR ME, TOO.'Infiltrating cartels and bringing down international drug lords since his days in 1980s Chicago, Jack Riley was one of the best agents the Drug Enforcement Administration had ever had. But when he moved to the border town of El Paso, he was on the front line of the battle against Mexican cartels waging war just miles away. His brief was to capture the DEA's deadliest target: El Chapo.For over twenty years, Riley had seen the fear and bloodshed that Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán Loera and his Sinaloa Cartel had caused, whilst the availability of drugs on American streets had exploded. Soon after arriving in El Paso, Riley found himself entangled in America's most deadly feud, and a bounty on his head. . .Drug Warrior is a thrilling journey into a life spent at the heart of America's drug wars, including the opioids crisis now ravaging its heartland, and a unique insight into the DEA's operation to finally bring its long-time nemesis to justice.Trade Review[Chicago's] most famous federal agent since the days of The Untouchables * Rolling Stone *For 15 years, Chapo has been Riley's white whale, the object of an obsession that teetered on derangement and sidelined everything else, including his family... A ruddy, white-haired bruiser who holds court from a bar stool, Riley seemed dispatched from the days of fedoras and cops lighting Luckies at crime scenes. -- Paul Solotaroff * Rolling Stone *

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Book Synopsis'I was a drug trafficker in the true sense of the word: a pure narco.'For 25 years Luis Antonio Navia the Cuban-American smuggled hundreds of tons of white powder for the biggest cartels in Colombia and Mexico, including Pablo Escobar's Medellín Cartel.What made him good at his dangerous job was amassing trusted contacts, losing very few shipments of coke, and maintaining a low profile. He refused to carry a weapon. But he was never far removed from the most brutal violence imaginable. One friend got his head cut off. Another was hit over the head, stuffed in a 55-gallon drum full of cement and dumped in a canal. Navia himself was kidnapped three times and went close to being fed alive to crocodiles. Somehow through it all he managed to survive and spent two decades fooling law-enforcement agencies until he came under the radar of Robert Harley, a tenacious US Customs special agent in Key West, Florida, who was determined to bring him to justice.What followed was an international game of cat-and-mouse that culminated in Navia's 2000 capture in Venezuela in one of the biggest antinarcotics takedowns of all time, the 12-nation Operation Journey.Spanning decades, continents and featuring a who's who of the drug trade, Pure Narco is a fast-paced adventure ride into the dark underworld of cocaine trafficking, written with the cooperation of a dozen law-enforcement agents from the world's top antinarcotics forces in the United States and Great Britain. Navia served his time in jail and is now free to tell his tale. His is the rare perspective of someone who has worked on both sides of that war: as a cocaine trafficker and US Government consultant. This book is a redemption story. Luis Navia, the pure narco, has gone full circle.Trade ReviewIf Howard Marks was the king of the cannabis smuggle, Luis Navia is the Howard Marks of the cocaine trade * Graham Honey, HMCE Senior Investigation Officer (Ret.) *With a cast of wild, grotesque and often deadly characters, strapped into a rollercoaster they cannot or will not get off, Pure Narco is a deliriously pleasurable ride. Luis Navia was a key trafficker for the biggest Colombian and Mexican cartels, and his insight into how they flooded the USA and Europe with drugs is unparalleled. This is the best insider account ever written of the global cocaine trade and the outrageous but precarious lives of those at the top * Peter Walsh, author, Drug War: The Secret History *Pure Narco is a true story of redemption ... it offers a rare glimpse into the life of a drug smuggler from the Miami Vice era to the end of the millennium, when it all came crashing down for Luis Navia * Nigel Brooks, USCS Senior Special Agent (Ret.) *A rare insight into the drug traffickers' world and law enforcement's efforts to arrest them and seize the drugs. * Graham Titmuss, HMCE Investigation Officer (Ret.) *I first met Luis Navia in Miami in 2002. He was cooperating with authorities and had some significant information to share with the United Kingdom. I remember leaving the prison after two days of visits and thinking what an amazing character he was. The discussions with Luis changed my perspective on top-level drug trafficking and traffickers; it was a moment of enlightenment.'Much is written and appears on screen about the drugs business but so often it misses the mark. That's not the case with this insightful book: Pure Narco hits the spot and tells it as it was. Law-enforcement officers have a saying that all top traffickers end up dead or in prison. Very few survive to tell the tale. Typical of the man, Luis is a survivor and tells his own tale in great depth and clarity. This is how it was. But Luis also needed a sympathetic ear to get the best out of his unique story and Jesse Fink has done that by writing the very best account of a remarkable life in cocaine trafficking.'Contrary to what we read in news reports and see on TV, trafficking is a highly complex business. It's not just based on violence, corruption, greed and all the other stereotypes. Every big cocaine shipment happens because of the fixer, the broker, the emissary. Luis Navia was all of these. The reality is the biggest deals or shipments happen because of key individuals with the people and business skills to make things happen. Luis is one of those people. He brought people together, he solved problems, he found a way to get things done.'What makes Luis's story so unique was his ability to transcend the politics between rival groups (cartels). His strength of personality, charm and business brain made him a valued business associate on so many major shipments. Typically, Luis made and lost a fortune: which is so often the case at the top level of international cocaine trafficking. Pure Narco explains how that's possible and why the business is both richly rewarding while being a precarious and perilous existence. It also explains how the big deals were conceived, planned and delivered. The mechanics of the deals are set out here, as Luis explains the key stages required for a successful shipment and deal. No other book on drug trafficking provides this level of detail.'I knew back in the 1990s that the work we were doing was groundbreaking, and that it was an era that would be looked back upon by historians. Pure Narco is a great book and an important part of social history. I loved every page. Having this account from Luis Navia will be part of his legacy. If you have an interest in and want to understand how international drug trafficking really works, you must read Pure Narco * Barry Clarke, Her Majesty’s Customs and Excise Investigation Officer (Retired) *Luis Navia was one of the biggest drug traffickers ever known - but never heard of. Jesse Fink's in-depth, entertaining and informative account of Luis's life during the height of the cocaine trade in the United States in the 1980s and '90s is like a speck in the eyes of a race-car driver moving at 200 miles an hour, albeit a large speck.Pure Narco reveals how a seemingly regular "businessman" can in reality be a successful drug trafficker * Vicente M. Garcia, HSI Assistant Special Agent in Charge (Ret.) *

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Book SynopsisThe ebook edition of this title is Open Access and freely available to read online. Transnational illicit markets have been transformed by the digital revolution. They take advantage of encryption technologies, smartphones, social media applications and cryptocurrencies that protect the digital traces of buyers and sellers, posing new challenges to drug control policies and public health alike. Digital Transformations of Illicit Drug Markets: Reconfiguration and Continuity considers how the digital revolution has changed the selling and buying of illicit substances through increased convenience and anonymisation. Providing a uniquely interdisciplinary perspective, chapters show how the digital transformation of illicit drug markets combines a reconfiguration of how sellers and buyers interact in new markets. Emphasising that illicit digital markets are embedded in societal structures and power relations in general, contributors also recognise the importance of critical perspectives on inequalities between the Global North and South as well as issues of gender. Digital Transformations of Illicit Drug Markets: Reconfiguration and Continuity challenges the field of criminology to recognise the limits of its traditional knowledge and move beyond the preoccupations that restrict crime to certain fixed spaces in order to develop new explanations.Table of ContentsChapter 1. Introduction: The digital transformations of illicit drug markets as a process of reconfiguration and continuity; Meropi Tzanetakis and Nigel South Part I: Embeddedness of digital drug markets Chapter 2. Social media applications and ‘surface web’ mediated supply of illicit drugs: Emergent and established market risks and contradictions; Ross Coomber, Andrew Childs, Leah Moyle, and Monica Barratt Chapter 3. Trust in cryptomarkets for illicit drugs; Kim Moeller Chapter 4. Drugs and the dark web: The Americanisation of policing and online criminal law from an Australian perspective ; Ian J. Warren and Emma Ryan Part II: Understanding drug demand online Chapter 5. ‘Waiting for the delivery man’: Temporalities of addiction, withdrawal, and the pleasures of drug time in a darknet cryptomarket; Angus Bancroft Chapter 6. When home delivery trumps a shady warehouse deal. An exploratory study of Belgian cryptomarket buyers’ profile and their motives to buy online; Charlotte Colman Part III: Power relations Chapter 7. Cultural politics, reciprocal relations, and operational agility in online drug markets; Nicolae Craciunescu and Nigel South Chapter 8. Gender representations in online modafinil markets; Jennifer Fleetwood and Caroline Chatwin Chapter 9. Cryptomarkets and drug market gentrification; James Martin Chapter 10. The dark side of cryptomarkets: Towards a new dialectic of self-exploitation within platform capitalism; Meropi Tzanetakis and Stefan A. Marx

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Book SynopsisSince the launch of the infamous Silk Road, the use of cryptomarkets - illicit markets for drugs on the dark web - has expanded rapidly around the world. Cryptomarkets: A Research Companion is an accessible, detailed guidebook which offers all the tools necessary to begin researching cryptomarket phenomena and the dark web trade in illicit drugs. Offering an in-depth historical account of the development of cryptomarkets up until the present day, the book goes on to examine key trends and findings regarding the contemporary operations of cryptomarkets. The principal methodologies used to conduct cryptomarket research, as well as questions regarding research ethics, are further explored. Finally, the authors outline underdeveloped areas of the field and pose key questions for future cryptomarket research. Whether an academic researcher, post-graduate student, law enforcement officer, or public health professional, this book is essential reading for those researching and working in the realm of cryptomarkets.Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1. A Modern-Day History of Cryptomarkets Chapter 2. The Current State of the Cryptomarket Trade Chapter 3. Cryptomarket Research Methods, Ethics and Epistemologies Chapter 4. Charting the Unknown and Future Directions

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Book SynopsisThe No 1 Bestseller!'A triumph' Nicola Tallant, Sunday World Crime World podcast'An incredible catalogue of mayhem ... amazing' Pat Kenny, Newstalk'Riveting' Irish TimesMeet the Wilsons - the deadliest family in crimeBrothers Eric, Keith and John Wilson, their cousin Alan, and nephew Luke shared a trade - assassination. Working for Ireland's criminal gangs they brought bloodshed and chaos to the streets.The Wilsons were not choosy about their targets. Hutches, Real IRA chiefs or random opponents from pub rows - they were all the same to them. Nor were they picky about motives - as long as the price was right, they asked no questions.The Hitmen is the shocking story of how a family cornered the market in intimidation and vengeance. It details the terrible cost in human suffering, particularly the death of an innocent teenage girl, Mariaora Rostas, when she randomly crossed their path. And it reveals how, one by one, each of the Wilsons was put out of business.The Hitmen draws on exclusive access to wire taps, case files and interviews with sources close to the gang who have never spoken before. No 1 bestselling authors Stephen Breen and Owen Conlon have written an extraordinary account of a family business like no other.Trade ReviewRiveting * Irish Times *An extraordinary story . . . fascinating -- Claire Byrne * RTÉ *An incredible catalogue of mayhem -- Pat Kenny * Newstalk *A triumph -- Nicola Tallant * Sunday World *

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Book SynopsisCocaine is the world's most notorious narcotic. It underpins a vast, multi-billion pound underworld with a dark and deadly side. But who really are the shadowy people behind this chilling network? The coca farmers, the jungle sweat-shop workers, the smugglers, the suppliers, and, ultimately, the dealers who provide for the world's hundreds of millions of users. Cocaine Confidential goes inside the lives of all these characters to reveal their stories for the first time. Along the way you'll meet hitmen, pimps, desperate former international footballers, coke barons, mules, hardened traffickers and corrupt cops as the truth is unravelled in a roller coaster ride through this secret world.Trade ReviewBestselling investigative journalist Wensley Clarkson has seemingly penetrated the inner sanctum of Noye's closest so called criminal associates, to paint a chilling portrait of a brilliant master criminal - News of the World

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Legal Highs are without doubt the biggest drug scourge to blight the world since recreational drugs first hit the streets more than 100 years ago. Their growing menace opens up a new front in the drug war, shifting the battle line from the Colombian jungles, Moroccan valleys, Afghan hills and the Winnebagos of New Mexico to especially constructed laboratories on the outskirts of Shanghai and other cities across the globe.But who are the shadowy characters behind the extravagant new drugs such as 'bath salts' and 'Miaow Miaow'? The scientists, the rogue boffins, the factory sweat-shop workers, the smugglers, the suppliers, and, ultimately, the dealers who sell tens of millions of packets of these substances every week? Why are so many people from all walks of life now consuming Legal Highs in such large quantities? This book will go inside the lives of all these people to reveal for the first time the true stories behind the emergence of the most deadly narcotics the world has ever seen.

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Book SynopsisOscillations in opium poppy production in Afghanistan have long been associated with how the state was perceived, such as after the Taliban imposed a cultivation ban in 2000-1.The international community's subsequent attempts to regulate opium poppy became intimately linked with its own state-building project, and rising levels of cultivation were cited as evidence of failure by those international donors who spearheaded development in poppy-growing provinces like Helmand, Nangarhar and Kandahar.Mansfield's book examines why drug control - particularly opium bans - have been imposed in Afghanistan; he documents the actors involved; and he scrutinises how prohibition served divergent and competing interests. Drawing on almost two decades of fieldwork in rural areas, he explains how these bans affected farming communities, and how prohibition endured in some areas while in others opium production bans undermined livelihoods and destabilised the political order, fuelling violence and rural rebellion.Above all this book challenges how we have come to understand political power in rural Afghanistan. Far from being the passive recipients of violence by state and non-state actors, Mansfield highlights the role that rural communities have played in shaping the political terrain, including establishing the conditions under which they could persist with opium production.

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Book SynopsisA practical, informative guide detailing everything anyone needs to know to grow their own cannabis.

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Book SynopsisAs seen on the BBC Victoria Derbyshire ShowAs heard on The Jeremy Vine ShowThink you've got a dysfunctional family?Meet mine.For 18 years, my family lived a normal life in a respectable suburb…Until one day, my dad gave up his successful career, and unexpectedly became Britain's most wanted crystal meth dealer.This is our story. At times shocking, often unbelievable, and all 100% true.

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Book SynopsisLike the never-ending War on Terror, the drugs war is a multi-billion-dollar industry that won’t go down without a fight. Pills, Powder, and Smoke explains why. The War on Drugs has been official American policy since the 1970s, with the UK, Europe, and much of the world following suit. It is at best a failed policy, according to bestselling author Antony Loewenstein. Its direct results have included mass incarceration in the US, extreme violence in different parts of the world, the backing of dictatorships, and surging drug addiction globally. And now the Trump administration is unleashing diplomatic and military forces against any softening of the conflict. Pills, Powder, and Smoke investigates the individuals, officials, activists, victims, DEA agents, and traffickers caught up in this deadly war. Travelling through the UK, the US, Australia, Honduras, the Philippines, and Guinea-Bissau, Loewenstein uncovers the secrets of the drug war, why it’s so hard to end, and who is really profiting from it. In reporting on the frontlines across the globe — from the streets of London’s King’s Cross to the killing fields of Central America to major cocaine transit routes in West Africa — Loewenstein reveals how the War on Drugs has become the most deadly war in modern times. Trade Review‘Lucid and well-researched.’ -- James Bloodworth * The Times *‘Vivid reportage.’ -- Colin Murphy * The Irish Times *‘Loewenstein gives a thorough and convincing picture of an utterly failed policy.’ -- Will Self * The Observer *‘An eye-opening exposé of the modern drugs trade.’ -- Colin Freeman * The Daily Telegraph *‘Loewenstein’s book is meticulous and forensic, and also impassioned and urgent. What stands out is the clarity of his thinking and the rigour of his arguments. He has an historian’s grasp of the big picture and a storyteller's skill for getting us to walk in the other's shoes. The vast scope of his thinking, travel and research is evident on every page, as is his clear-headed compassion. This book is vital and I couldn't put it down.’ -- Christos Tsiolkas‘Antony Loewenstein is an amazing journalist and this is an amazing book. Anyone who cares about the war on drugs - one of the biggest catastrophes in the world - should read this superb book right away.’ -- Johann Hari, author of Lost Connections and Chasing the Scream‘Many people assume that as the war on drugs has failed and because a few countries have liberated cannabis as a recreational drug as well as a medicine, the “drug problem” is solved. This new book powerfully demolishes any such complacency that might have developed in the west. Drug wars represent a major, ongoing world-wide disaster. This book is a must-read for anyone pursuing a rational policy debate about drugs.’ * Professor David Nutt, Imperial College, London *‘In this vivid, partisan piece of reportage, Australian journalist Loewenstein (Disaster Capitalism) depicts the catastrophic human consequences of the U.S.-led war on drugs and advocates for the legalisation of all illicit substances. Loewenstein argues that America’s prohibitionist policy serves not to counter abuse or impede trafficking, but rather to create corrupt “narco states” that are complicit with the federal government’s foreign policy goals ... Readers inclined to take a skeptical view of the drug war ... will welcome Loewenstein’s advocacy.’ * Publishers Weekly *‘A critique of the war on drugs, which, by the author’s account, is mostly a war on the poor and dispossessed ... The author examines several fronts in a war fought by Western governments, especially the U.S., on harder drugs that ‘are consumed nightly in such major cities as London, Sydney, New York, and Paris’ ... A sometimes overwrought but pressing survey calling into question a war that would seem to benefit only its combatants.’ * Kirkus Reviews *‘Pills, Powder, and Smoke provides vital coverage of a war that may never be won, but that desperately demands out attention.’ -- Kylie Maslen * Kill Your Darlings *‘He brings humanity and an even hand to his journalism, attempting to draw out multiple perspectives and asking questions from all angles but doing so with intimacy and palpable emotion ... Loewenstein believes in a moral drug policy, in ethical drug-taking and in fair-trade drugs, and makes no bones about wanting to change the conversation.’ -- Louise Swinn * The Saturday Paper *‘A great read that cements my view that the war on drugs will never be won.’ -- Wendy Squires * The Age *‘Thought-provoking.’ -- Colin Freeman * The Telegraph *‘A forensic look at the war on drugs.’ * Take 5 Magazine *Praise for Disaster Capitalism: ‘Chilling study, based on careful and courageous reporting, and illuminated with perceptive analysis, helps us understand all too well the saying that man is a wolf to man.’ -- Noam ChomskyPraise for Disaster Capitalism: ‘A journey into a world of mutated economics and corrupt politics that we ignore at our peril.’ -- John PilgerPraise for Disaster Capitalism: ‘I am very grateful that Antony Loewenstein has brought his meticulous reporting to this subject, and the result is a keenly observed and timely investigation into rampant resource plunder, privatised detention centres, and an array of other forms of corporate rapacity on four continents. This book will serve as a potent weapon for shock resistors around the world.’ -- Naomi Klein, author of This Changes Everything and The Shock Doctrine

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Book SynopsisShortlisted for the 2022 Jhalak Prize Shortlisted for the 2022 Desmond Elliott Prize Shortlisted for the 2022 British Book Awards, Book of the Year – Discover Award Longlisted for the 2022 Gordon Burn Prize Longlisted for the 2022 Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize Winner of a 2022 Somerset Maugham Award Cabbages . . . The Turkish variety are prized for their enlarged leaf bud, that's where we put the heroin . . . There's a stash of heroin waiting to be imported, and no one seems sure what to do with it . . . But Ayla's a gardener, and she has a plan. Offering a fresh and funny take on the machinery of the North London heroin trade, Keeping the House lifts the lid on a covert world thriving just beneath notice: not only in McDonald's queues and men's clubs, but in spotless living rooms and whispering kitchens. Spanning three generations, this is the story of the women who keep their family - and their family business - afloat, juggling everything from police surveillance to trickier questions of community, belonging and love.Trade Review‘Keeping the House is a truly beautiful debut. A mistress of deftly sketched characters that become whole humans in a few lines, Cin tells stories of working-class, inner-city life steeped in truth, emotion and vulnerability. She is one of a new generation of writers who see the splendour of these streets and articulate it with great majesty.’ Courttia Newland, Guardian Best Books of 2021 ---- ‘Crackling with energy . . . An exhilaratingly idiosyncratic first novel, Keeping the House has “cult classic” written all over it.’ Michael Donkor, The Guardian ---- ‘An enthralling read.’Fanny Blake, Daily Mail ---- ‘Cin has a gift for evocative writing.’ Michael Magras, Washington Post ---- ‘Rich and complex . . . There is treachery in Cin’s Tottenham but solidarity too.’ Stewart Home, 3:AM Magazine ---- ‘In her debut novel, Tice Cin weaves an extraordinary plot from the everyday lives in a community of Turkish Cypriots . . . Cin is capable of that gift that great storytellers have of bringing you into a world you may never inhabit, or even encounter, and make you feel that you are on first name terms with its whole population.’ John-Paul Davies, Buzz Magazine ---- ‘[Keeping the House] expertly interweaves questions about family, community, trauma and belonging into episodes that are often humorous, sometimes heart-breaking but always poetic.’ Kerri Logan, The Skinny ---- ‘This is a novel unapologetically specific to its depicted community, and, well, if you’re not going to let the author lead you, why do you read at all?’ Lisa McInerney, Stinging Fly ---- ‘An exciting new talent debuts with Keeping the House. This mercurial novel . . . has a raw energy and inconsistency . . . Cin makes a virtue of its unevenness, reflecting the patchwork, organic nature of a dynamic community.’ Alastair Mabott, Herald Scotland ---- ‘Tice Cin is a fine stylist . . . Keeping the House breaks free from drug-novel stereotypes to paint a fresh, fun and vivid picture of drug-dealing in today's Tottenham.’ Laura Waddell, The Scotsman ---- 'Keeping the House is such a bold and yet poignant read: musical, nimble, affectionate and (thank GOD) rule-breaking.' Lisa McInerney----'Written with immediacy and poignancy, this is a powerful debut from an exciting and compelling new voice, I loved it.' Salena Godden----'Tice Cin has arrived. With a style all her own and a confidence that radiates off each page, poetry that renders settings and characters incredibly vivid. No impression will escape you.' Derek Owusu----'Keeping The House drew me in from the first few lines. A glorious novel which thrums with feeling, illustrating the London community with a sharp and confident eye. Her characters are full and sure, and traverse their world with humour, boldness and love. Hope fills these pages.' Caleb Azumah Nelson, author of Open Water ----'A brilliantly enthralling read. Tice Cin's potent crime caper marks the arrival of an intoxicating new voice.' Irenosen Okojie, author of Nudibranch----Bookseller quotes:----'A bold and assured debut that rethinks what a crime novel can be.' Ollie Simpson, Pages of Hackney-----'Tice Cin fuses wild lyricism with dreamy romance in a form as voracious and alive as her characters.' So Mayer, Burley Fisher Books ----'A swirling collage of a novel that explores the dark side of a London community with great energy and warmth.' Kate Ellis, Brick Lane Bookshop ----'The Great Tottenham Novel exists and it's called Keeping the House. I loved it.' Gary Perry, Foyles ----'Cin's natural poetry and the unique rhythm of her storytelling weave a spellbinding narrative through several generations of Turkish Cypriot family. A captivating read from a powerful new voice!' Antony Hurley, Burley Fisher Books

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Book SynopsisDrugs as Weapons Against Us meticulously details how a group of opium-trafficking families came to form an American oligarchy and eventually achieved global dominance. This oligarchy helped fund the Nazi regime and then saved thousands of Nazis to work with the Central Intelligence Agency. CIA operations such as MK-Ultra pushed LSD and other drugs on leftist leaders and left-leaning populations at home and abroad. Evidence supports that this oligarchy further led the United States into its longest-running wars in the ideal areas for opium crops, while also massively funding wars in areas of coca plant abundance for cocaine production under the guise of a “war on drugs” that is actually the use of drugs as a war on us. Drugs as Weapons Against Us tells how scores of undercover U.S. Intelligence agents used drugs in the targeting of leftist leaders from SDS to the Black Panthers, Young Lords, Latin Kings, and the Occupy Movement. It also tells how they particularly targeted leftist musicians, including John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, and Tupac Shakur to promote drugs while later murdering them when they started sobering up and taking on more leftist activism. The book further uncovers the evidence that Intelligence agents dosed Paul Robeson with LSD, gave Mick Jagger his first hit of acid, hooked Janis Joplin on amphetamines, as well as manipulating Elvis Presley, Eminem, the Wu Tang Clan, and others.Trade Review"Both well-researched and an exhilarating read, Drugs as Weapons Against Us exposes the dark history of the state's use of drugs as both a tool of imperialism abroad and of social control at home." Kara Dellacioppa, chair of the Sociology Department, California State University; author, This Bridge Called Zapatismo ; editor, Cultural Politics and Resistance in the 21st Century"Well-documented . . . not just opinion . . . I'm really recommending people get this book and read it . . . I really encourage everybody to get online and order this book right away!" Joe Madison, talk radio host"In my first radio interview, Frank Zappa told me the CIA was distributing LSD to the hippies. [ Drugs as Weapons Against Us is] Unbelievable! Just a compelling story!" --Allan Handelman, Rock Talk"Awesome guest [John Potash]... is going out on a limb. This is a book that if you're interested in the manipulation of the population, you're going to want to get. This is the kind of book I just crave." --Joyce Riley, The Power Hour"[John Potash] has done a wonderful job of research and a wonderful job of presenting [his] facts." --Rob McConnell, The X Zone"When Lennon met semi-privately with media guru Marshall McLuhan in late 1969, McLuhan let Lennon know he was a 'useful fool,' and The Beatles were [used] for psychological warfare... in popularizing drugs. Lennon stormed out but came back a few hours later to learn more. [ Drugs as Weapons Against Us ] is exhilarating and well-researched... with startling revelations... definitely worth the read!" --Richard Syrett, The Conspiracy Show"The CIA have used drugs as weapons against Americans... to control people or pacify dissension against the official status quo--the government's war policies... We should not delude ourselves that U.S. Intelligence has repented and would never repeat these operations... Many people still look at the rapid rise of the hallucinogenic use among these popular Sixties rock stars such as The Beatles, Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix as positive contributions--I don't--to the Sixties idealism--It wasn't--about the world's possibility for peace, love and global cooperation--that's naïve. Nevertheless, we barely consider the possibility that such pacifist views were the intention of U.S. Intelligence agencies, and the CIA and its moneyed interests had a role in creating the Sixties subculture and [leading them to] dropping out and leaving behind radical dissent and protest. [John Potash has] covered so much in [his] research... we appreciate his work." --Gary Null, WBAI 99.5 FM"The book is amazing!" --David Clyde, The Wild Side 990AM WBOB, Rhode Island"I just got the book a couple days ago and I can't wait to read it. I really can't." --Bill LuMaye, WPTF, 680AM/850AM Raleigh, Duram, Chapel Hill, NC. Listed in Talkers magazine Top 250"I really think [ Drugs as Weapons Against Us ] is a fascinating compendium of... what the CIA was doing... regarding manipulating our minds... targeting a lot of famous celebrities, musicians. [John Potash is] an author I really recommend you read... definitely read Drugs as Weapons Against Us." --Sean Stone, Buzzsaw on The Lip TV

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Book SynopsisThis book undertakes a psychotropic analysis of texts that deal with the violence of drug trafficking and interdiction, especially in Mexico. While most critics of so-called narcoculture have either focused on an aesthetic “sobriety” in these works or discounted them altogether as exploitative and unworthy of serious attention, Drugs, Violence, and Latin America illuminates how such work may reflect and intervene in global networks of intoxication. Theorizing a “dialectics of intoxication” that illustrates how psychotropy may either solidify or destabilize the self and its relationship to the other, it proposes that these tendencies influence human behavior in distinct ways and are leveraged for social control within both licit and illicit economies. A consideration of a countercultural genealogy in Latin America provides a contrastive psychotropic context for contemporary novels that exposes links between narcoviolence and consumerism, challenging our addictions of thought and feeling about ourselves and our relationships to drugs and narco-violence. Trade Review“Patteson’s work makes a highly original and suggestive contribution to the study of drugs, intoxication, addiction and trafficking in Latin America. In particular, his work is a much-needed answer to the critical current, exemplified by Osvaldo Zavala and others, that is quick to discount works that supposedly do little to oppose narco-culture. ... it will certainly be required reading for anyone studying drugs, intoxication or drug trafficking going forward.” (Brandon P. Bisbey, Chasqui, Vol. 51 (1), May, 2022) Table of Contents1. Introduction2. A Dialectics of Intoxication3. Loaded and Exploded: Countercultural Travel and Its Colonialist Shadow4.From Flower Power to Les fleurs du mal: la Onda literaria5. High Crimes: Élmer Mendoza’s “Zurdo” Mendieta Series and the Psychotropic Economy6. Disturbing Innocence: Defamiliarizing Narco Violence Through Child Protagonists in Fiesta en la Madriguera and Prayers for the Stolen7. Escape Velocity: Narcossism, Contagion, and Consumption in Julián Herbert8. Conclusion

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Book SynopsisThis textbook provides an overview of international drug policy using a comparative framework to explore contemporary drug issues.

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Book Synopsis"This is a book I wish I'd written. It's brilliantly researched, full of detail and illuminating…" —Jake Adelstein, author of Tokyo IceUncover the shocking world of the Japanese courtroom.In a country where nearly all defendants plead guilty, the interesting part is what happens between the plea and the sentencing. In True Crime Japan, journalist and longtime resident of Japan Paul Murphy delves into a year's worth of criminal court cases in Matsumoto, a city located 140 miles to the west of Tokyo. The nine defendants in these cases range from ruthless mobsters to average citizens with a variety of methods and motives. Using court documents and interviews, Murphy makes a point of including the perspectives of the defendants, as well as those of their families, neighbors, and lawyers. He explores not only the motives of offenders but the culture of crime and punishment in Japan.The nine cases include:"Late in Life" — A wealthy octogenarian is put in jail for stealing fried chicken"Mama's Boys" — A disbelieving family unveils their son's role as a yakuza gangster."Mother Killers" — A middle-aged carpenter beats his 91-year old mother to death and goes to work the following day, leaving the body for his wife to find.True Crime Japan provides an unusual lens through which to view Japanese society and its emphasis on honor, shame, and conformity. Murphy's in-depth analysis of the court system reveals Japan to be, perhaps surprisingly, a land of true individuals.Trade Review"Murphy has an admirable desire to educate: the stories are interspersed with discussions about broader Japanese social themes, including a fascinating discussion of life in Japanese prisons." --Asia Review of Books"Murphy never exploits his subjects. Instead, his deep research offers insights--at times instructive, at others sobering--into Japanese culture and how societal changes play out at the grassroots level." --Japan Times"Murphy creates a winning mix of irreverent and earnest observations in this snapshot of the underworld in modern Japan." --Publishers Weekly

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Book SynopsisSometimes parents struggle with substance abuse problems, which affects their parenting skills. This guide has been complied on the basis of the review of family skills training programmes, a meeting and a literature review and focuses on providing basic information and guidance to those policymakers and programme managers interested in launching a family skills training programme at the universal or selective level. It includes an overview of the importance of family environment, basic principles for launching an effective family skills programme, challenges to implement them as well as ways to improve the recruitment and retention rates of parents.

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Book SynopsisMost of What You Know About Addiction is Wrong sends out a set of well-researched, informed and timely messages about how mature societies should be handling addictive drugs. This makes the book essential reading for policy makers, politicians, health professionals as well as general readers everywhere.

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Book SynopsisScandal and corruption, drugs and pirates, triads and flower boats; the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong and the Communist take-over of Canton. Peter Hui was there. He knew everybody and saw everything. This is the real story of Hong Kong, told with the rich flavours of the street. If Peter had been only a little bit different he could have been an important man. But this is a riches to rags to riches to rags story. As we follow Peter''s life, we see in sharp focus what it was like to be a Chinese man in the British territory of Hong Kong through most of the years of the 20th century. And yet this book is not just one man''s tale. It is the story of a time and place -- colonial Hong Kong, Portuguese Macau and the South China hinterland -- seen from the unique point of view of a man who was at home at all levels of society. This is the bizarre story of a man who really did, for a very short time, own all the opium in Hong Kong. If Suzie Wong had been a real person, Peter Hui would have known her.

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