It took almost 40 years for the Jerusalem police to discover that the poppy plants which decorated the colorful King David Hotel garden could be used to produce opium. But then, when the discovery was finally made Sunday. It was with outside help–American security officers who escort Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger while residing in that hotel. They were the ones who made the discovery and brought it to the attention of the Jerusalem police.
Police arrested two of the hotel’s gardeners, but they were not sure they had anything to do with it. Only after questioning them did the police find that the plants have been growing in the garden for the last 40 years. “It could very well be,” said the Jerusalem deputy police chief, “that they were just growing there for beauty.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
