Heroin found in National Archives of Great Britain
A researcher found heroin in the National Archives in west London, a place best known for dusty files, “Associated Press” informs.
In October a scholar visiting the Government's official archive in Kew asked for a 1928 Foreign Office file from the British Consulate in Cairo, Egypt, detailing a criminal assault court case involving possession of narcotics.
Upon opening file FO 841/276, the researcher was intrigued to find a pouch containing 19 sachets with a mysterious "off-white powder" inside.
After analysing the substance with a spectrometer, conservation specialists in the archives' Collection Care Laboratory conclusively confirmed it was under one gram of heroin.
The file was temporarily removed from public access, and the pouch and its contents photographed before being handed over to the Metropolitan Police.