The history of the CIA as a regulatory body for drug trafficking

Published at: 12/12/2025 05:00 PM

Despite the fact that the US government declares almost daily that it fights against drug trafficking, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is the organization that for years has coordinated the drug business in the world.

According to investigations by American journalists, such as Daniel Finn, the CIA has been involved in drug trafficking for a long time since the end of World War II; even Dennis Dayle, former head of an elite unit of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), stated that “in my 30 years of experience with the DEA and related agencies, the main objectives of my investigations almost invariably turned out to be CIA workers.”

In the same way, William Blum, writer on foreign policy and intelligence and author of the book Killing Hope: US Military and CIA Interventions since World War II , chronologically detailed how this organization is really a structure for overlapping illegal activities, and agrees with what was explained in the text Memorial of Atrocities of the CIA written by journalist Steve Kangas, in which the agency's operations on the subject of drug trafficking were revealed. Here's a summary of that:

France , between 1947 and 1951

CIA weapons, money and disinformation allowed Corsican criminal organizations in Marseille to wrest control of the unions from the Communist Party. The Corsicans gained political influence and control over the docks, ideal conditions for consolidating a long-term alliance with the drug distributors of the mafia, making that city the capital of post-war heroine in the West. The first heroin laboratories opened in 1951, just a few months after the Corsicans took over the port.

Southeast Asia , 1950s

The Chinese Nationalist Army, organized by the CIA to wage war against communist China, became the opium magnate of the Golden Triangle (parts of Burma, Thailand and Laos), the world's largest source of this drug and heroin. Air America, the main CIA-owned airline, transported drugs across Southeast Asia.

Indochina , from 1950 to the early 1970s

The CIA, during the US military intervention in Laos and other parts of Indochina, known today as Cambodia, Vietnam, Burma and Thailand, through Air America transported opium and heroin throughout the area. Many soldiers in Vietnam became addicted. A laboratory built at CIA headquarters in northern Laos was used to refine heroin. After a decade of U.S. military intervention, Southeast Asia had become the source of 70% of the world's illicit opium and the main supplier of raw materials for the booming U.S. heroin market.

Australia , 1973 to 1980

The Nugan Hand Bank in Sydney was a CIA bank. Its managers included a network of American generals, admirals and agents, including the agency's former director, William Colby, who was also one of its lawyers. From its branches in Saudi Arabia, Europe, Southeast Asia, South America and the United States, the Nugan Hand Bank financed drug trafficking, promoted money laundering and international arms trafficking. In 1980, in the midst of several mysterious deaths, this financial institution went bankrupt with a debt of 50 million dollars.

Central America , 80s

In Costa Rica, there were several CIA networks involved in drug trafficking. The Mercury News reported that in addition to those who served the Meneses-Blandón narco operation and the overthrow of Noriega, there was John Hull's agent, whose farms along the border between Costa Rica and Nicaragua were the main area of operations. Hull, along with the agency's pilots, joined George Morales, a major Colombian drug trafficker based in Miami, who later admitted giving 3 million dollars in cash and several planes to business leaders. In 1989, after the Costa Rican government accused Hull of drug trafficking, a plane hired by the DEA flew him clandestinely and illegally to Miami via Haiti. Subsequently, the United States repeatedly frustrated efforts to extradite Hull to that Central American country to stand trial.

Another drug trafficking network based in Costa Rica involved a group of Cuban-Americans hired by the CIA as military trainers to destabilize the government of that nation and for this purpose, they used a Costa Rican shrimp company, which laundered money for the organization and to channel cocaine to the United States.

However, that was not the only route. Guatemala, whose military intelligence service, closely linked to the CIA, harbored numerous drug traffickers, and according to the DEA, was another stop on the cocaine route. In addition, the accountant of the Medellín Cartel in Miami, Ramón Milián Rodríguez, testified that he channeled almost 10 million dollars to Nicaraguan rebels through Félix Rodríguez, a veteran agent, who worked at the Ilopango Air Base in El Salvador.

Haiti , between 1980 and 1990

While working to keep key Haitian military and political leaders in power, the CIA turned a blind eye to the drug trade of its clients. In 1986, the agency added more names to its payroll when it created a new Haitian organization, the National Intelligence Service ( SIN). The SIN's mandate included combating cocaine trafficking, even though its own officers were involved in the trafficking, a business with the complicity of some Haitian military and political leaders.

Afghanistan, between 1980 and the early 1990s

The Mujahideen rebels, supported by the CIA, were actively involved in drug trafficking while fighting the government . The agency's main client was Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a major drug lord, heroin refiner, and who was also the biggest beneficiary of the agency's military support. Trucks and mules supplied by the latter, which had transported weapons to Afghanistan, were used to transport opium to laboratories along the border with Pakistan. This production provided almost 50% of the heroin consumed annually in the United States and 3/4 of that consumed in Western Europe. U.S. officials admitted in 1990 that they had not investigated or taken action against the drug trafficking operation so as not to offend their Pakistani and Afghan allies. As early as 1993, Afghanistan was known as the new Colombia of the drug world.

While Washington is lecturing the world about drug trafficking and security, its own record reveals decades of complicity, cover-up and clandestine operations that destroyed entire countries. This file makes it possible to identify the CIA as the agency responsible for being the guardian of illegal American activities, including the drug market, in order to protect both the consumption of the merchandise and the profits derived from that business.

AMELYREN BASABE/Mazo News Team