10/09/2026
‘Propulsive and illuminating biography. Tuch’s deep dive is suspenseful and well researched’ - Publishers Weekly
‘An extraordinary life of adventure (and misadventure), and a rollicking good read.’ - Tim Tate, author of To Catch a Spy
How did a boy from Manchester revolutionise the criminal world and become the largest ma*****na trafficker in American history?
This is the never-before-told story of Harold Derber, the debonair British Merchant Navy veteran who pioneered the modern drug trade with his groundbreaking invention: the drug mothership.
Based on newly declassified government files, undercover photographs, an unpublished memoir, and first-hand accounts from both Derber’s trafficking accomplices and the agents who pursued them, The Wireless Operator offers a complex portrait of a singular criminal mastermind who operated at the fault lines of state power, secrecy, and organized crime - and whose legacy still echoes in today’s global war on drugs.
Out now in paperback! ⚓️
