Part III - The Poppy Wars or, to the ones involved,
"Poppy Ops"
One of the most eye opening things that happened in Laos was what was known as the Poppy Wars, or as Bailey and I observed, "Poppy Ops." For all the denials of drugs for weapons that went on in the Reagan Administration during Iran/Contra investigations, it was nothing in comparison to what went on in Laos. There was a literal war going on between Gen Vang Pao and at least two drug lords in China and Burma. I am not sure of their names although I heard them named several times. Up to 400 tons of opium was being moved out of Burma and through Laos into Thailand each year. I had heard that the amount was 40 tons from 1958 until 1961 when apparently the flood gates opened up for trafficking down into Thailand. I remember the CIA in the late 1960's denying that they were involved, but involved they were....right up to their eyeballs. In the motion picture "Air America" the pilots were depicted as moving dope for guns and such. Although I am sure that some of that went on, most of the Air America pilots never really knew what they were flying from one place to another except for what was marked on the bags and crates. They may have some inkling that it was drugs, but it wasn't openly discussed even if they knew. There were other more secure ways of moving drugs in Laos than using Air America to do the job.
On almost any visit to Vientiane you could spot the drug runners by how they dressed and the weapons they carried. The French Secret Service was involved along with Vang Pao and two other notable Laotian generals. And for the record, the North Vietnamese were involved as well. The North Vietnamese wanted control of the drug trade just as much as the Laotian generals did. After the Geneva accords were signed, all foreign military personnel except for embassy guards were supposed to leave the country. Never happened. Some left of course, but many remained and just changed into civilian clothing and denied they were military personnel. The French Secret Service had people there along with the Australians There were Russians and Chinese and Vietnamese there as well. The U.S. Military was present represented by non-uniformed servicemen including Army Special Forces guys, U.S.A.F. personnel including yours truly (all in civilian attire), ex-military types that had resigned their commissions or left the service and were working for the CIA, and all sorts of undercover foreign military types. In the end, no one was fooling anyone. The place was teeming with military personnel of many nations all wanting control of Laos and its busy drug trade.
For people like me, it was a strange environment. I don't think I ever thought about illegal drugs even when I was in high school. I never knew anyone who took them and about the heaviest thing I ever did was a couple of beers. None of my friends did drugs and I just didn't see drugs in the 1950's. I am sure they probably were in our high school and other places, but I just never saw it. In Laos lots of people did drugs. Many people smoked opium. Others turned opium into #2 or #4 heroin and used it or sold it. Others even took the refinement further and turned it into morphine. But for the most part, it was opium that moved through Laos and the refinement was done elsewhere in Thailand or some other part of the world. However, General Vang Pao did his refinement of opium into heroin right in Vientiane and he didn't spend a lot of time trying to conceal it from anyone..
Who was really in charge of all of the opium movement in Laos remains unknown to me. It was apparent that the CIA was heavily involved and knew exactly what was going on. Just how much MACV knew, I cannot say. But I know this, the "Poppy Ops" involved the U.S. Military because in involved Baily and myself and apparently several SF MACVSOG teams. Again, without anyone wearing uniforms, it would be impossible to know for sure who was involved. Certainly former French Foreign Legionnaires were operating for the drug cartels in country.
The flow of drugs from far northern Laos and Burma went in two directions. On path south of the China - Laos border back into China. The southern path took it through the Laotian mountain ranges south to the Mekong River and depending on the season, either down the river by boat, or, in the dry season, down one of three trails that followed the river south. All the routes except the China route were susceptible to raids by bandits, the CIA, contending drug cartels, or the Laotian generals. I can't prove it, but I don't think any of the drug raids were initiated by the U.S. Military. U.S. troops were involved, but how they were involved still is in question even to this day. Although I primarily worked with Bill Lair's PARU mercenaries, I also worked with the SF SOG guys as well. In a future chapter on this blog I will detail one of the missions to intercept a drug shipment coming out of Burma. This was, without doubt, a CIA hit on a shipment made by a noted drug lord in Burma. This I know, Laos was the wild west of the heroin and opium world in Southeast Asia. One of the drug lords of the north was Khun Sa. He was located in the Shan State in Burma. Another was Gen Ne Win who headed the Burmese Governments Army.
Khun Sa of the Shan State
To show you how valuable and important was the drug trade, I will give you a few 1963 statistics as made known to me by people in the know. The typical poppy grower in N. Laos or Burma made an average of 100,000 Kip Laotian for growing poppies. That relates to about $200.00 per grower per year. Turned into 5 lbs of raw opium it was worth $1,000 to $4,000. That 5 lbs of opium turned into #2 morphine base heroin was then worth $8000 to $10,000 on the wholesale market and much more when sold on the street. It still had to be refined down to #4 grade heroin. Once that was done, it was worth upwards of $250,000. And of course, it no longer weighs 5 lbs. No wonder Vientiane was awash in cash. And no wonder, that the CIA along with countless other entities wanted a piece of the action.
Until next time.
The flow of drugs from far northern Laos and Burma went in two directions. On path south of the China - Laos border back into China. The southern path took it through the Laotian mountain ranges south to the Mekong River and depending on the season, either down the river by boat, or, in the dry season, down one of three trails that followed the river south. All the routes except the China route were susceptible to raids by bandits, the CIA, contending drug cartels, or the Laotian generals. I can't prove it, but I don't think any of the drug raids were initiated by the U.S. Military. U.S. troops were involved, but how they were involved still is in question even to this day. Although I primarily worked with Bill Lair's PARU mercenaries, I also worked with the SF SOG guys as well. In a future chapter on this blog I will detail one of the missions to intercept a drug shipment coming out of Burma. This was, without doubt, a CIA hit on a shipment made by a noted drug lord in Burma. This I know, Laos was the wild west of the heroin and opium world in Southeast Asia. One of the drug lords of the north was Khun Sa. He was located in the Shan State in Burma. Another was Gen Ne Win who headed the Burmese Governments Army.
Khun Sa of the Shan StateTo show you how valuable and important was the drug trade, I will give you a few 1963 statistics as made known to me by people in the know. The typical poppy grower in N. Laos or Burma made an average of 100,000 Kip Laotian for growing poppies. That relates to about $200.00 per grower per year. Turned into 5 lbs of raw opium it was worth $1,000 to $4,000. That 5 lbs of opium turned into #2 morphine base heroin was then worth $8000 to $10,000 on the wholesale market and much more when sold on the street. It still had to be refined down to #4 grade heroin. Once that was done, it was worth upwards of $250,000. And of course, it no longer weighs 5 lbs. No wonder Vientiane was awash in cash. And no wonder, that the CIA along with countless other entities wanted a piece of the action.
Until next time.
