Operation Paper: How the CIA Created Air America's Drug Network

Описание: Operation Paper: How the CIA Built a Drug Empire
In 1946, while Americans were celebrating the end of World War II, OSS veterans were building something entirely different in Southeast Asia - the infrastructure for what would become the CIA's involvement in global drug trafficking.
Willis Bird, nicknamed "Mr. Opium," stayed in Thailand after the war as a supplier to the Thai military. But the operation was far more sophisticated than it appeared.
SEA Supply Corporation ran operations in Bangkok, but was registered in Miami, Florida by Paul Helliwell - an OSS veteran who simultaneously served as legal consul for the Thai government in the US. This dual role gave him unprecedented access to move supplies and coordinate operations.
The key to the entire operation was Civil Air Transport, founded in 1946. By 1950, the CIA had transformed it into their first proprietary airline through a holding company called Airdale Corporation, later renamed Pacific Corp. Civil Air Transport became Air America.
Air America operated across Southeast Asia from the 1950s through the 1970s, conducting covert operations under the cover of a legitimate airline. This wasn't just about moving weapons - it was the beginning of documented CIA involvement in drug trafficking that would define American foreign policy for decades.
The corporate structure was deliberate: shell companies, dual roles, plausible deniability. Every layer designed to obscure the connection between American intelligence operations and the opium trade flowing out of the Golden Triangle.
Sources:

OSS/CIA Declassified Documents
Congressional Testimony on Air America Operations
"The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade" - Academic Research
National Archives - Operation Paper Files

#OperationPaper #CIA #AirAmerica #DrugTrafficking #OSS #SEASupply #CivilAirTransport #GoldenTriangle #CovertOperations #ClassifiedHistory #DocumentedHistory #PaulHelliwell #ThailandHistory #ColdWar