"Sometimes the best of intentions can have the worst results. In 1908, British reformers banned the export of Indian opium to China. As a result, the world price of opium soared to a new high, and a century of lucrative drug smuggling began. Just as the banning of alcohol in America during Prohibition made illicit fortunes for the mafia and other gangsters, organized criminals grew rich on the trade of illegal narcotics throughout the British Empire. The book shows how gangsters exploited the Empire's global trade routes to establish criminal networks across the world. In many ways, these early drug dealers were the forerunners of today's cartels" -- Book flap.