Operation Show Me How was an international drug enforcement operation coordinated by

Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cr ...

which began around January 1998. Interpol is an international agency that coordinates police intelligence and multi-lateral information sharing. International drugs-related operations like Operation Show Me How are a standard part of its mission.Schneider, Stephen, Ph.D.; Beare, Margaret, Ph.D.; Hill, Jeremy, LL.B. (March 31, 2000)
Alternative Approaches to Combating Transnational Crime.
'' Page 119. This operation was given the name "Show Me How" because some heroin being smuggled from Thailand was discovered in hollowed out books from a series from that same name.

The operation

At some point prior to January 1998, a

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

agency was investigating the international origins of drugs being delivered in small packages to hotels within the United Kingdom. In January 1998, the agency asked Interpol to circulate a data request for drug seizures relating to small packages delivered to hotels.Dragoon, Alice. (June 15, 2000) CNN
The Man from Interpol: Is Director Peter Nevitt is the enemy of all the world's thugs, and IT is his weapon.
' Republication of CIO Magazine article by CNN. As is typical of their standard mode of information sharing and cooperation between police agencies, Interpol circulated a request for data searches for this case to around 50 countries and several matches were found. The seizures were mainly in Europe, the heroin from each of these reported seizures had links to

Bangkok, Thailand Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...

as each parcel seized was posted in Bangkok through

express mail Express mail is an expedited mail delivery service for which the customer pays a premium for faster delivery. Express mail is a service for domestic and international mail, and is in most nations governed by the country's own postal administration ...

(1998)
1998 Annual Activity Report.
' .pdf Page 14;Report page 12. Further, each seized parcel was sent to a European city close to an international airport, such as

Heathrow Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others bei ...

and

Frankfurt Airport Frankfurt Airport (; german: link=no, Flughafen Frankfurt Main , also known as ''Rhein-Main-Flughafen'') is a major international airport located in Frankfurt, the fifth-largest city of Germany and one of the world's leading financial centres ...

. After a meeting with international police officials at their headquarters in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, Interpol launched Operation Show Me How (named after books which some heroin had been found in). The investigation uncovered Nigerian criminal gangs running heroin from Bangkok and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

and opium and cocaine from Bogotá, Colombia. The operation also contributed to undermining the activity of these gangs in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. In 1999, Interpol suggested that all its member countries should monitor the type of

postal system The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal syst ...

drug smuggling investigated by Operation Show Me How and other operations.

(1999)
1999 Annual Activity Report.
' Page 24. Between 1998 and 2000, Operation Show Me How resulted in many seizures of heroin and opium and a significant number of arrests in various countries., notably in

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

, the

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesSouth Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

, and

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

References

{{Reflist Smuggling