“The Chinese emperor had outlawed opium, so some back in England judged that this illegal business had to be immoral. To evade criticism, the British government employed the ruse of selling the opium in Calcutta to a private Crown-chartered enterprise — the East India Company — and pretended that London wasn’t involved with what happened next. East India Company ships sailed the contraband up the Chinese coast and, with the protection of British naval might and expertise, used both offshore islands and anchored ships to stash the drugs. Chinese criminals would row out to the offshore drug warehouses to get the English opium. Massive bribery of local officials made the trade possible. The British were breaking Chinese law and pushing back against the restrictive Canton system. Exploiting coves and islands along China’s rocky coast, the sea barbarians opened more areas for their illegal trade, while partnerships with local gangsters allowed further circumvention…The India-to-China opium trade was exclusively the domain of the East India Company; no private English merchants were allowed in.”