The Microdot Gang: The Rise and Fall of the LSD Network That Turned On the World

The biggest drug bust in British history occurred in 1977, involving 800 officers and 120 arrests. It focused on two acid manufacturing centers supplying acid to most of the UK, Europe, America, and beyond. James Wyllie's book tells the story of how the Microdot Gang, a group of American academic, British students, a public school cad, and an American hustler, created an acid production line and inspired the war on drugs.

Format: Hardback
Length: 240 pages
Publication date: 09 June 2022
Publisher: The History Press Ltd

The largest drug bust in British history occurred on March 25, 1977, with 800 officers making 120 arrests and seizing a staggering 6,000,000 tabs of LSD. The raids focused on two acid manufacturing centers: one hidden in an isolated farmhouse in deepest Wales and the other in a suburban house on a leafy residential street in south-west London. Between them, they supplied acid to most of the UK, Europe, America, and beyond. Tabs bearing their logo were recovered as far away as Australia.

James Wyllie recounts the extraordinary story of how a middle-aged American academic, two idealistic British students, a public school cad, and an American hustler formed the Microdot Gang and created an acid production line designed to turn on the world. It is the story of Operation Julie, a police operation unprecedented in scale, sophistication, and complexity, the brainchild of an old-school detective who led an investigation that would eventually involve the security services, the FBI, the DEA, the Canadian authorities, and the Swiss police.

Spanning over a decade and across several continents, The Microdot Gang is also a tale of how a cultural movement became a criminal enterprise, inspiring the war on drugs and launching a revolution that left an enduring and complex legacy.

Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780750996006