1963, Heroin, Cocaine, and the assassination

[Cliff Varnell]

14 hours ago, Paul Brancato said:

The sources for heroin and cocaine have shifted many times. It's not like growing a forest from scratch. When foreign engagements or policies make one growing region problematic another one quickly takes its place. 

 

The production of opium has been stable in Afghanistan and the Golden Triangle for decades. 

Turkey was once the world's largest supplier of black market opium; now Turkey is the world's largest producer of legal, medicinal opium.

The volatility in the drug trade is due to the distribution networks where eliminating the middleman is a constant dynamic.

In 1963 drug traffickers made the best assassins because they had the most practice and had access to high tech weapons.

[Michael Clark]

On 10/23/2004 at 11:11 PM, James Richards said:

Some Agents at ASIS believe Colby's troubles and his ultimate demise began with the dramas of the Nugan/Hand bank collapse here in Australia. When Frank Nugan was whacked, it began a series of murders where Agency assets running guns into the Middle East and some Sandline guys playing both sides were terminated. It's not a huge stretch that Colby was the last name on a very big hit list.

For a bit of background -

US military and CIA oversaw Far East drug smuggling for 20 years

From "American Society of Criminology" report by William J. Chambliss

In 1969 Michael Hand, a former Green Beret and one of the CIA agents stationed at Long Cheng when Air America was shipping opium, moved to Australia, ostensibly as a private citizen. On arriving in Australia, Hand entered into a business partnership with an Australian national, Frank Nugan. In 1976 they established the Nugan Hand Bank in Sydney (Commonwealth of New South Wales, 1982a, 1982b). The Nugan Hand Bank began as a storefront operation with minimal capital investment, but almost immediately it boasted deposits of over $25 million. The rapid growth of the bank resulted from large deposits of secret funds made by narcotics and arms smugglers and large deposits from the CIA (Nihill, 1982).

In addition to the records from the bank that suggest the CIA was using the bank as a conduit for its funds, the bank’s connection to the CIA and other U.S. intelligence agencies is evidenced by the people who formed the directors and principal officers of the bank, including the following:

Admiral Earl F. Yates, president of the Nugan Hand Bank was, during the Vietnam War, chief of staff for strategic planning of U.S. forces in Asia and the Pacific.

General Edwin F. Black, president of Nugan Hand’s Hawaii branch, was commander of U.S. troops in Thailand during the Vietnam War and, after the war, assistant army chief of staff for the Pacific.

General Erle Cocke, Jr., head of the Nugan Hand Washington, D.C. office.

George Farris worked in the Nugan Hand Hong Kong and Washington, D.C. offices. Farris was a military intelligence specialist who worked in a special forces training base in the Pacific.

Bernie Houghton, Nugan Hand’s representative in Saudi Arabia. Houghton was also a U.S. naval intelligence undercover agent.

Thomas Clines, director of training in the CIA’s clandestine service, was a London operative for Nugan Hand who helped in the takeover of a London-based bank and was stationed at Long Cheng with Michael Hand and Theodore S. Shackley during the Vietnam War.

Dale Holmgreen, former flight service manager in Vietnam for Civil Air Transport, which became Air America. He was on the board of directors of Nugan Hand and ran the bank’s Taiwan office.

Walter McDonald, an economist and former deputy director of CIA for economic research, was a specialist in petroleum. He became a consultant to Nugan Hand and served as head of its Anapolis, Maryland branch.

General Leroy Manor, who ran the Nugan Hand Philippine office, was a Vietnam veteran who helped coordinate the aborted attempt to rescue the Iranian hostages, chief of staff for the U.S. Pacific command, and the U.S. government’s liaison officer to Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos.

On the board of directors of the parent company formed by Michael Hand that preceded the Nugan Hand Bank were Grant Walters, Robert Peterson, David M. Houton, and Spencer Smith, all of whom listed their address as c/o Air America, Army Post Office, San Francisco, California.

Also working through the Nugan Hand Bank was Edwin F. Wilson, a CIA agent involved in smuggling arms to the Middle East and later sentenced to prison by a U.S. court for smuggling illegal arms to Libya. Edwin Wilson’s associate in Mideast arms shipments was Theodore Shackley, head of the Miami, Florida, CIA station. In 1973, when William Colby was made director of Central Intelligence, Shackley replaced him as head of covert operations for the Far East; on his retirement from the CIA William Colby became Nugan Hand’s lawyer.

In the late 1970s the bank experienced financial difficulties, which led to the death of Frank Nugan. He was found dead of a shotgun blast in his Mercedes Benz on a remote road outside Sydney. The official explanation was suicide, but some investigators speculated that he might have been murdered. In any event, Nugan’s death created a major banking scandal and culminated in a government investigation. The investigation revealed that millions of dollars were unaccounted for in the bank’s records and that the bank was serving as a money-laundering operation for narcotics smugglers and as a conduit through which the CIA was financing gun smuggling and other illegal operations throughout the world. These operations included illegally smuggling arms to South Africa and the Middle East. There was also evidence that the CIA used the Nugan Hand Bank to pay for political campaigns that slandered politicians, including Australia’s Prime Minister Gough Whitlam (Kwitny, 1987).

Michael Hand tried desperately to cover up the operations of the bank. Hundreds of documents were destroyed before investigators could get into the bank. Despite Hand’s efforts, the scandal mushroomed and eventually Hand was forced to flee Australia. He managed this, while under indictment for a rash of felonies, with the aid of a CIA official who flew to Australia with a false passport and accompanied him out of the country. Hand’s father, who lives in New York, denies knowing anything about his son’s whereabouts.

Thus, the evidence uncovered by the government investigation in Australia linked high-level CIA officials to a bank in Sydney that was responsible for financing and laundering money for a significant part of the narcotics trafficking originating in Southeast Asia (Commonwealth of New South Wales, 1982b; 1983). It also linked the CIA to arms smuggling and illegal involvement in the democratic processes of a friendly nation. Other investigations reveal that the events in Australia were but part of a worldwide involvement in narcotics and arms smuggling by the CIA and French intelligence (Hougan, 1978; Kruger, 1980; Owen, 1983).

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?/topic/2000-the-midnight-canoeist/

 

[Cliff Varnell]

Paul Helliwell meeting Michael Hand and Frank Nugan

[Michael Clark]

 

John Simkin wrote:

"I thought it might be worth starting a thread on Anthony A. Poshepny (Tony Poe). He was closely associated with several people who I believe were involved in the assassination of JFK: Paul Helliwell, Ted Shackley, Carl E. Jenkins, David Sanchez Morales and Rafael 'Chi Chi' Quintero. 

Poshepny was born in Long Beach, California on 18th September, 1924. At the age of nine, he was accidentally shot in the stomach by his brother. It was feared he would die but he eventually recovered and at the age of 18 joined the United States Marines. Poshepny served in the Second Parachute Battalion and the 5th Marine Division and saw action at Iwo Jima where he was wounded in the right leg. 

Poshepny studied history at San Jose State University and after he graduated in 1950 he joined the Central Intelligence Agency. He was sent to South Korea where he served under John Singlaub. At the end of the Korean War Poshepny was sent to Thailand to work with Walt Kuzmak, the head of the Sea Supply Corporation, a shipping company in Bangkok. 

Sea Supply and Civil Air Transport (CAT), a Taiwan-based airline, were established by Paul Helliwell as secret CIA companies. It was Helliwell's idea to use them to raise money to help support Chaing Kai-shek. According to Joseph Trento (Prelude to Terror): "Through Sea Supply, Helliwell imported large amounts of arms for the KMT soldiers to keep the Burmese military from throwing them out of the country. The arms were ferried into Burma on CAT airplanes. CAT then used the "empty" planes to fly drugs from Burma to Taiwan, Bangkok, and Saigon. There the drugs were processed for the benefit of the KMT and Chiang Kai-shek's corrupt government on Taiwan." 

In 1958 Poshepny was involved in the effort to overthrow the Sukarno government of Indonesia. He then joined the project to train and insert dissident groups into Tibet. Poshepny also helped to organise the escape of the Dalai Lama from Tibet in 1959

In March, 1961, Poshepny was sent to Laos, where he worked longside General Vang Pao and his Hmong followers. Three years later he married the niece of Touby Ly Foung, a prominent Hmong leader. He was badly wounded in 1965 but he later returned to duty. 

Poshepny later admitted that he collected enemy ears, dropped decapitated human heads from the air on to the enemy and stuck heads on spikes. A friend, Philip Smith, argued: "The posting of decapitated heads obviously sent a powerful message, especially to North Vietnamese troops seeking to invade the homelands of the Hmong and Lao people. He successfully fought terror with terror. He strove to instill courage and respect in the tribal and indigenous forces that he recruited and trained as well as fear in the enemy."

Poshepny told Roger Warner (Shooting at the Moon): "I used to collect ears... I had a big, green, reinforced cellophane bag as you walked up my steps. I'd tell my people to put them in, and then I'd staple them to this 5,000 kip (Lao currency) notice that this ear was paid for already, and put them in the bag and send them to Vientiane with the report.. I still collected them, until one day I went out on an inspection trip... and I saw this little Lao kid out there, he's only about 12, and he had no ears. And I asked: `'What the hell happened to this guy?' Somebody said, 'Tony, he heard you were paying for ears. His daddy cut his ears off. For the 5,000 kip' ''.

In 1966 Ted Shackley was placed in charge of the CIA secret war in Laos. He appointed Thomas G. Clines as his deputy. He also took Carl E. Jenkins, David Sanchez Morales, Rafael 'Chi Chi' Quintero, Felix I. Rodriguez and Edwin Wilson with him to Laos. According to Joel Bainerman (Crimes of a President) it was at this point that Shackley and his "Secret Team" became involved in the drug trade. They did this via General Vang Pao, the leader of the anti-communist forces in Laos. Vang Pao was a major figure in the opium trade in Laos. To help him Shackley used his CIA officials and assets to sabotage the competitors. Eventually Vang Pao had a monopoly over the heroin trade in Laos. In 1967 Shackley and Clines helped Vang Pao to obtain financial backing to form his own airline, Zieng Khouang Air Transport Company, to transport opium and heroin between Long Tieng and Vientiane. 

Poshepny was later sent to Nam Yu where he was responsible for sending intelligence teams into China. In 1970 Poshepny replaced Jack Shirley as head of training at Phitscamp in Thailand. He stayed until he closed the camp in 1974. He retired from the CIA in 1975 but remained in Thailand for the next fifteen years. 

Anthony A. Poshepny died on 27th June, 2003, and is buried in Sonoma, California."

 

[Michael Clark]

1979 Interview with Landsdale.

I started taking notes later in the interview.

 

-A general snapshot of Landsdale in The Phillipines and the Transfer to Vietnam.

-A glimpse of French-influenced and controlled Indochina.

-@17:30 a very brief mention of a more-or-less casual Opium Culture, during French rule. No further mention of narcotics.

-Problems with graft

-City vs. countryside.

-Relationship between Diem and Lasdale. A rather intimate description

----Prtrait of Diem; Intimate, humanizing.

-Providing guidance for Diem

-----An interesting Socratic approach 

-Social Phiosophy differences

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Michael Clark]

1979 Interview with Landsdale. Part 2

-Again, no mention of narcotics during the American Era.

-@30:15' drugs, gambling prostitution 

-@34:28 Warlords, Militia, plots against Deim. 

-French plan to grant independence, stop paying militias

-Attack on palace

 

 

[Michael Clark]

52 page doc.

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=157324&relPageId=1&search=QJBANNER  

27, April, 1959

Director

Luxembourg (15-14)

1.Subj. [OLLA] told QJBANNER/1 he recently invited by French national FNU Delacourt join ring which receiving gratis from CHICOMS (Chinese Communists)  large amounts of opium to be smuggled to states. Subject willing to under Americans.

2.  Suggest HQS make and advise arrangements nearest narcotics Bureau officer come luxe where can fully interrogate subj, assess story and decide action. 

 

 

Edited September 15, 2018 by Michael Clark

[Paul Brancato]

4 hours ago, Michael Clark said:

52 page doc.

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=157324&relPageId=1&search=QJBANNER  

27, April, 1959

Director

Luxembourg (15-14)

1.Subj. [OLLA] told QJBANNER/1 he recently invited by French national FNU Delacourt join ring which receiving gratis from CHICOMS (Chinese Communists)  large amounts of opium to be smuggled to states. Subject willing to under Americans.

2.  Suggest HQS make and advise arrangements nearest narcotics Bureau officer come luxe where can fully interrogate subj, assess story and decide action. 

 

 

There was a concerted propaganda effort at the time to implicate Red China in the heroin trade. I think this was spearheaded by Anslinger and FBN. Historians nearly universally dismiss this as false history. 

[Larry Hancock]

Actually there were an ongoing series of propaganda articles planted in major papers, pointing fingers at Castro as a major drug dealer attempting to undermine the U .S. with shipments via Cuba.  A search might find the articles, I came across a number of them which also showed up in Miami papers.  In one neat twist Castro was serving as an intermediary for Red China.  As I recall Hoover could always be counted on for a comment endorsing such fears.

[David Andrews]

9 hours ago, Paul Brancato said:

There was a concerted propaganda effort at the time to implicate Red China in the heroin trade. I think this was spearheaded by Anslinger and FBN. Historians nearly universally dismiss this as false history. 

The question is - where did the mainland China networks and opium resources go after the fall of China?  Chiang Kai-Shek may have retained his connections and exploited them, so Anslinger could blame the trade on the Reds.  But Chiang couldn't control much of the mainland opium from Formosa.  Did the Reds really burn it all, and encourage less lucrative farming?

[David Andrews]

Some opinion on narcotics and post-Vietnam SE Asia fighting:

http://www.deepblacklies.co.uk/kiss_the_boys_goodbye.htm

Opinion, he said.

[Cliff Varnell]

4 hours ago, David Andrews said:

The question is - where did the mainland China networks and opium resources go after the fall of China?  Chiang Kai-Shek may have retained his connections and exploited them, so Anslinger could blame the trade on the Reds.  But Chiang couldn't control much of the mainland opium from Formosa.  Did the Reds really burn it all, and encourage less lucrative farming?

My best guess is if Castro ran dope it was from the Red Chinese who bought it off their "enemy" the Kuomintang.

I'd be shocked if Castro didn't run a boutique dope smuggling operation.

Why wouldn't he?  He's 90 miles off the coast of the biggest dope market in the world.

[Paul Brancato]

1 hour ago, Cliff Varnell said:

My best guess is if Castro ran dope it was from the Red Chinese who bought it off their "enemy" the Kuomintang.

I'd be shocked if Castro didn't run a boutique dope smuggling operation.

Why wouldn't he?  He's 90 miles off the coast of the biggest dope market in the world.

I’d be surprised if Castro did smuggle drugs. 

[Cliff Varnell]

On 9/14/2018 at 6:36 PM, Michael Clark said:

52 page doc.

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=157324&relPageId=1&search=QJBANNER  

27, April, 1959

Director

Luxembourg (15-14)

1.Subj. [OLLA] told QJBANNER/1 he recently invited by French national FNU Delacourt join ring which receiving gratis from CHICOMS (Chinese Communists)  large amounts of opium to be smuggled to states. Subject willing to under Americans.

2.  Suggest HQS make and advise arrangements nearest narcotics Bureau officer come luxe where can fully interrogate subj, assess story and decide action. 

 

 

Of course the CHICOMS gave out lots of free dope.  Pound for pound the most effective form of foreign aid for chosen leaders.

Anslinger tried to claim that the Red Chinese were the world's major dope traffickers when of course it was the Nationalist Chinese Kuomintang who enjoyed that distinction.

A boutique operation out of Castro's Cuba would have been a smuggler's dream. 

Are we to believe that Mao and Castro were men of such high moral character that they would draw the line at smuggling dope to Yanks? Executing their own people, okay, but getting Yanquis loaded was a bridge too far?

 

Edited September 17, 2018 by Cliff Varnell