{"product_id":"the-wireless-operator-the-untold-story-of-the-british-sailor-who-invented-the-modern-drug-trade-9781837732456","title":"The Wireless Operator: The Untold Story of the British Sailor Who Invented the Modern Drug Trade","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eGovernment agencies and rival factions were closing in. His look-alike had already fallen victim to professional hitmen and his once-powerful allies in Cuban intelligence and the DEA could no longer guarantee his safety. How did a boy from Manchester revolutionize the criminal world and become the largest marijuana trafficker in history?\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e This is the never-before-told story of Harold Derber, the debonair British Merchant Navy veteran who invented the modern drug trade with his groundbreaking invention: the drug mothership. Through his ghost fleet of drug ships, Derber eventually become the chief supplier of marijuana to post-war America. This gripping true tale follows Derber from humble beginnings in Manchester, England to his assassination in the sun-kissed streets of Miami. Along the way, Derber's story takes in some of the most significant events of the twentieth century - the Second World War's Battle of the Atlantic, the Cuban Revolution and the murky shadows of the Cold War. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Shedding light on a litany of plots including arms and refugee smuggling, large-scale stock fraud and Derber's rise to the pinnacle of the drug world, this remarkable transatlantic story paints a complex picture of a singular figure and brings his extraordinary life into focus for the first time. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Icon Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 10\/21\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781837732456\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 288\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 08\/25\/2025\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"David Tuch","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51634877399221,"sku":"9781837732456","price":28.04,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_5efed798-4906-423e-9740-305aa0017f52.jpg?v=1756789318","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/the-wireless-operator-the-untold-story-of-the-british-sailor-who-invented-the-modern-drug-trade-9781837732456","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}