I'm writing a Western set in the 1850s. The main character is a special soldier (his rank/title is never specific and officially he is just a soldier) who is sent to the U.S. to capture an "enemy of the Crown". His name is Arnold
What Arnold has done is import Mexico-grown opium to Britain throughout the 1840s. Due to his sizeable possé, but more importantly, his large network of obedient, yet separate possés, he was able to safely transport the opium from where it was grown, all the way to Britain.
It is in December 1850 the main character is sent to capture Arnold. The reason for this is because the British government sent someone to Arnold, telling him to either work for them or give his entire operation to them.
The reasoning behind this is that, from what I gathered, the British Empire was trying to create an opium monopoly. I think they mostly ignored U.S. opium due to its low quality, but the opium exported to Britain by Arnold was of high quality, and somewhat sizeable quantity.
So, is it realistic that in such a situation, the British Empire would've forceably tried to gain control over this importation (could this have happened in some way or another)? Or, would they not have cared about Arnold's operation?
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