Editing Golden Triangle (section)

===Laos and the Secret War (1960s–1970s):===
In Laos, the CIA orchestrated the “Secret War” (1961–1975) to counter the Pathet Lao and North Vietnamese forces along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The CIA trained and armed Hmong militias under General Vang Pao, who controlled opium-producing regions in northeastern Laos.

Hmong and other ethnic groups used opium as currency, with CIA-operated [[Air America]] helicopters transporting raw opium from Hmong villages to processing labs in Vientiane or Thailand, as documented by McCoy and whistleblowers like Air America pilot Michael Levine. The CIA denied direct trafficking but acknowledged “incidental” involvement due to reliance on drug-running allies.

Vang Pao’s forces, funded partly by opium and the CIA, grew into a 30,000-strong army by the late 1960s. The CIA’s tolerance of drug profits ensured Hmong loyalty, but heroin from these operations flooded U.S. markets, contributing to the 1970s drug epidemic focused primarily in minority inter-cities.