The Wireless Operator – The Untold Story of the British Sailor Who Invented the Modern Drug Trade
David Tuch
Type: ARC
Genre: Historical fiction, mystery, literary
Word count: 60,000
The Wireless Operator uncovers the never-before-told story of Harold Derber, the debonair British Merchant Navy veteran whose decades in illicit trafficking culminated in his invention of the drug “mothership,” the offshore smuggling system that gave rise to the modern era of narcotics.
What’s this?
The Wireless Operator uncovers the never-before-told story of Harold Derber, the debonair British Merchant Navy veteran who pioneered the modern drug trade with his invention of the drug mothership. Commanding a ghost fleet of offshore smuggling vessels, Derber became the chief supplier of marijuana to post-war America. His journey runs from modest beginnings in Manchester to his assassination on a Miami street, intersecting with some of the twentieth century’s most turbulent events: the Battle of the Atlantic, Israel’s struggle for independence, the Cuban Revolution, and the shadows of the Cold War.
Drawing on newly declassified files, undercover photographs, an unpublished memoir, and first-hand accounts from both accomplices and agents, The Wireless Operator uncovers the hidden origins of the modern narcotics trade. Bringing Derber’s extraordinary life into focus for the first time, it offers a compelling portrait of a criminal mastermind operating at the fault lines of state power, secrecy, and organised crime.
Dr David Tuch is an author and entrepreneur whose work uncovers overlooked histories at the intersection of crime, intelligence, and global politics. His debut book, The Wireless Operator, reveals the astonishing life of his cousin, Harold Derber, the British Merchant Navy radio officer who invented the drug “mothership” and became a pivotal figure in the rise of modern narcotics smuggling. Originally from New York, Tuch has lived in England and France and now makes his home in Brookline, Massachusetts, with his wife and four children.
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