The Wireless Operator: The Untold Story of the British Sailor Who Invented the Modern Drug Trade

David Tuch's The Wireless Operator: The Untold Story of the British Sailor Who Invented the Modern Drug Trade chronicles the extraordinary life of Harold Derber, born Hyman Tuchverderber in 1926, Manchester. From his childhood evacuation during the Blitz to his training as a wireless operator in the British Merchant Navy, Derber’s journey spans continents and decades. After fighting in Israel's War of Independence and various smuggling ventures, he arrives in 1960s Miami, where he launches the Freedom Ferry to transport Cuban refugees, a humanitarian mission that pits him against the U.S. State Department and leads to multiple deportations. Undeterred, Derber exploits a legal loophole in the 1970 Controlled Substances Act to pioneer the drug “mothership” concept, revolutionizing narcotics trafficking by positioning massive cargo ships beyond U.S. territorial waters. Building a fleet that transports hundreds of tons of marijuana annually, he partners with Colombian suppliers, launders millions through Wall Street, and builds dangerous alliances with intelligence agencies and organized crime, before meeting his end in a 1976 assassination.

David Tuch’s biography is a well-researched book that offers a complex, sophisticated portrait of Derber, a man driven by both humanitarian impulse and criminal ambition. His relationship with Sari Cohen, a glamorous entertainer secretly working as a CIA contractor, is one of the intriguing layers of the story. Key moments like the dramatic Nana ferry voyage, Derber's courtroom battles, and the Lillian B drug bust showcase Tuch's gripping storytelling. The book questions whether it is right to break unjust laws, examines Cold War geopolitics, and explores how one man’s ingenuity transformed global drug trafficking. Particularly compelling is Derber’s dual identity—as both a refugee rescuer branded a national security threat and the architect of an industrial-scale smuggling operation. Tuch's meticulous research, drawing from declassified documents and personal interviews, reveals a shadowy world where government agencies, intelligence services, and criminal enterprises intersect. This is not merely a crime biography but a meditation on freedom, bureaucracy, and the price of defiance. For me, this book was thought and particularly revealing.