RUSSELL, Thomas Wentworth.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Egyptian Government Central Narcotics Intelligence Bureau Annual Report for the Year 1936. First edition, lettered "presentation copy" on the front cover and with the author's compliments card loosely inserted. Russell Pasha (1879-1954), who simultaneously served as commandant of the Cairo City Police, was a driving force in combating the international drug trade across Europe in the interwar period and formed the Central Narcotics Intelligence Bureau in 1929.The bureau was tasked with tracing the source of imported narcotics, reporting to the League of Nations, prosecuting European traffickers, and manipulating the price of drugs in Egypt to make them unaffordable. In 1936, it opened provincial branches at Tanta and Asyut, the former specializing in hashish and heroin and the latter focusing on opium trafficking. Two sections give numerous case studies, among them the seizure of opium smuggled from Shanghai to Port Said on board the French liner M/V Aramis. "About 12.30 am on December 27, 1936, the signal given to the effect that the opium was in the cabin of the carpenter, whereupon the whole party entered the cabin and found Wong Lih holding the opium in his arms. On seeing the force he tried to throw it out of the port-hole but was prevented... In a cupboard belonging to the accused, a cleverly concealed partition between two drawers was discovered" (p. 44).

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