Editing Air Scranton (section)

==Air America and Nugan Hand Bank==
Southeast Asia Operations (1960s–1970s):
[[Air America]] was the CIA’s primary airline for transporting opium and heroin in the Golden Triangle (Burma, Laos, Thailand) during the Vietnam War, supporting Hmong forces under General Vang Pao (The Politics of Heroin, pp. 304–305; Whiteout, p. 20). Williams reinforces this, noting Air America’s role in drug smuggling (Operation Gladio, cited in).

[[Michael Hand]], co-founder of the [[Nugan Hand Bank]], was a CIA operative who worked with Air America in Laos, facilitating opium transport (The Great Heroin Coup, p. 274). His experience informed Nugan Hand’s role as a money-laundering hub for drug profits (In Banks We Trust, p. 70).

Nugan Hand’s early shareholders included four [[Air America employees]], one from Continental Air Services, and five from [[USAID]], all tied to CIA operations (The Great Heroin Coup, p. 274). This personnel overlap links Air America directly to the bank’s formation in 1973.

The bank’s Chiang Mai branch, opened in 1976, was strategically located in the Golden Triangle and shared an office with the DEA, facilitating drug money laundering (The Great Heroin Coup, p. 274; In Banks We Trust, p. 70).