Tag Archives: Vang Pao

The Binh Xuyen: Order and Opium in Saigon

Bảo Đại and his followers on accession

Image via Wikipedia

In 1950 the CIA’s Colonel Lansdale reported that:

“The Binh Xuyen were participating in one of the world’s major arteries of the dope traffic, helping move the prize opium crops out of Laos and South China. The profits were so huge that Bao Dai’s tiny cut was ample to keep him in yachts, villas, and other comforts in France.”More>>