Title: The CIA, Contras, Gangs, and Crack - Institute for Policy Studies
Headings: The CIA, Contras, Gangs, and Crack
The CIA, Contras, Gangs, and Crack
History of CIA Involvement in Drug Trafficking
1947 to 1951, France
Early 1950s, Southeast Asia
1950s to early 1970s, Indochina
1973 to 1980, Australia
1970s and 1980s, Panama
1980s, Central America
Mid-1980s to early 1990s, Haiti
1980s to early 1990s, Afghanistan

Content: The Corsicans gained political influence and control over the docks–ideal conditions for cementing a long-term partnership with mafia drug distributors, which turned Marseille into the postwar heroin capital of the Western world. Marseille’s first heroin laboratories were opened in 1951, only months after the Corsicans took over the waterfront. Early 1950s, Southeast Asia
The Nationalist Chinese army, organized by the CIA to wage war against Communist China, became the opium baron of The Golden Triangle (parts of Burma, Thailand, and Laos), the world’s largest source of opium and heroin. Air America, the CIA’s principal proprietary airline, flew the drugs all over Southeast Asia. 1950s to early 1970s, Indochina
During U.S. military involvement in Laos and other parts of Indochina, Air America flew opium and heroin throughout the area. Many GI’s in Vietnam became addicts. A laboratory built at CIA headquarters in northern Laos was used to refine heroin. After a decade of American military intervention, Southeast Asia had become the source of 70 percent of the world’s illicit opium and the major supplier of raw materials for America’s booming heroin market. 1973 to 1980, Australia
The Nugan Hand Bank of Sydney was a CIA bank in all but name. Among its officers were a network of U.S. generals, admirals, and CIA men–including former CIA Director William Colby, who was also one of its lawyers.