This true crime history recounts the legendary rise and nefarious fall of nineteenth century America’s most successful drug smugglers. In 1886, five men met at San Francisco’s luxurious Baldwin Hotel to discuss a most profitable business: opium smuggling. The exploits of Will Whaley and his partners became the stuff of legend, with tales of landing contraband on deserted shores by the light of the moon, voyages across the Pacific, typhoons and shipwrecks. Their co-conspirator was the notorious Halcyon, a schooner that novelist Jack London once admiringly wrote “sailed like a witch.” Despite the danger, betrayals and mysterious deaths, these partners in crime were so successful they inspired copycats and competitors alike. In Opium Kings of Old Hawaii, author and career law enforcement agent John Madinger recounts the incredible story of America’s first organized drug trafficking ring.

Many changes have occurred in the twenty-five years that have passed since the enactment of the Money Laundering Control Act of 1986. The law has been amended, new underlying crimes have been added, and court decisions have modified its scope. The Act remains an important tool in combating criminal activity. Now in its third edition, Money Laundering: A Guide for Criminal Investigators covers the basics of finding ill-gotten gains, linking them to the criminal, and seizing them. Providing a clear understanding of money laundering practices, it explains the investigative and legislative processes that are essential in detecting and circumventing this illegal and dangerous activity. Highlights of the Third Edition include Important court decisions and changes in federal law since the Second Edition New trends in crime and terrorism financing The rise of money laundering in connecting with major frauds, including the Bernie Madoff case Law and policy shifts related to terrorism and financing since the Obama administration New methods for financial intelligence and the filing of Suspicious Activity Reports How changes in technology have enabled launderers to move funds more easily and anonymously Knowledge of the techniques used to investigate these cases and a full understanding of the laws and regulations that serve as the government’s weapons in this fight are essential for the criminal investigator. This volume arms those tasked with finding and tracing illegal proceeds with this critical knowledge, enabling them to thwart illegal profiteering by finding the paper trail.

He baffled and eluded law enforcement officers for nearly two decades. In the end, however, it wasn't the painstaking forensic analysis of hundreds of pieces of crime scene evidence that led to the capture of the Unabomber-but the lucky tip of an informant. Truth of the matter is, for all their sophistication and hi-tech science, crime-fighting techniques such as fingerprint and DNA analysis are a factor in less than one percent of all criminal cases. In the overwhelming number of crimes, informants have provided the necessary ammunition needed to bring criminals to justice, from Genovese to Gotti and Capone to Dillinger. Confidential Informant: Understanding Law Enforcement's Most Valuable Tool explores the covert and clandestine world of informants-revealing the secrets of how to find them and make the most out of them, while at the same time, avoiding the pitfalls of dealing with them. Using case studies in which informants played key roles in solving crimes, the book examines all aspects of informant development and management, from the motivation of the informant to the legal problems that accompany the use of informants in criminal cases. Written by John Madinger, a former narcotics agent, supervisor and administrator, and currently a Senior Special Agent with the Criminal Investigation Division of the Internal Revenue Service, Confidential Informant: Understanding Law Enforcement's Most Valuable Tool examines the emotional and behavioral characteristics of the informant, as well as the psychology of trust and betrayal. The book also illustrates techniques for improving interviewing and communication skills when dealing with informants, and provides invaluable forms that can be used in connection with these vital sources of information.

A study of colonialism and indigenous health in Hawaiʻi, highlighting cultural change over time.

A highly illustrated guide to Hawaii in the award-winning DK Eyewitness Travel series

Surprisingly little has been written about the complicated relationship between opium and China and its people. Opium, State, and Society goes a long way toward illuminating this relationship in the Republican period, when all levels of Chinese society--from peasants to school teachers, merchants, warlords, and ministers of finance--were physically or economically dependent on the drug. The centerpiece of this study is an investigation of the symbiotic relationship that evolved between opium and the Guomindang's rise to power in the years 1924-1937. Despite attempts to find other sources of revenue, the Guomindang became increasingly addicted to the tax monies derived from the drug trade prior to the war with Japan. Based solidly on a previously untapped reservoir of archival sources from the People's Republic and Taiwan, this work critically analyzes the complex realities of a government policy that vacillated between prohibition and legalization, and ultimately sought to curtail the cultivation, sale, and consumption of opium through a government monopoly.

Waterman is the first comprehensive biography of Duke Kahanamoku (1890–1968): swimmer, surfer, Olympic gold medalist, Hawaiian icon, waterman. Long before Michael Phelps and Mark Spitz made their splashes in the pool, Kahanamoku emerged from the backwaters of Waikiki to become America’s first superstar Olympic swimmer. The original “human fish” set dozens of world records and topped the world rankings for more than a decade; his rivalry with Johnny Weissmuller transformed competitive swimming from an insignificant sideshow into a headliner event. Kahanamoku used his Olympic renown to introduce the sport of “surf-riding,” an activity unknown beyond the Hawaiian Islands, to the world. Standing proudly on his traditional wooden longboard, he spread surfing from Australia to the Hollywood crowd in California to New Jersey. No American athlete has influenced two sports as profoundly as Kahanamoku did, and yet he remains an enigmatic and underappreciated figure: a dark-skinned Pacific Islander who encountered and overcame racism and ignorance long before the likes of Joe Louis, Jesse Owens, and Jackie Robinson. Kahanamoku’s connection to his homeland was equally important. He was born when Hawaii was an independent kingdom; he served as the sheriff of Honolulu during Pearl Harbor and World War II and as a globetrotting “Ambassador of Aloha” afterward; he died not long after Hawaii attained statehood. As one sportswriter put it, Duke was “Babe Ruth and Jack Dempsey combined down here.” In Waterman, award-winning journalist David Davis examines the remarkable life of Duke Kahanamoku, in and out of the water. Purchase the audio edition.