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Lao Elite

He also argued that the trade
gives the Lao elite (which includes
government officials) a chance to
accumulate capital to ultimately
invest in legitimate enterprises,
thus building up Laos's economy.

But if these rationalizations
seemed weak, far less convincing
was the general's assertion that,
since he is in total control of the
trade now, when the time comes to
put an end to it, he will simply put
an end to it.

It is unlikely that Gen.
Rathikoune, one of the chief
warlords of the opium dynasty, will
decide to end the trade soon. Right
outside the village of Ban Houei
Sai, hidden in the jungle, are several
of his refineries — called "cookers"
— which manufacture crude
morphine (which is refined into
heroin at a later transport point)
under the supervision of
professional pharmacists imported
from Bangkok.

Gen. Rathikoune also has
"cookers" in the nearby villages of
Ban Khwan, Phan Phung and Ban
Khueng (the latter for opium grown
by the Yao tribe). Most of the
opium he procures comes from
Burma in the caravans such as Chan
Chi-foo's; the rest comes from
Thailand or from the hill
tribespeople (Meo and Yao) in the
area near Ban Houei Sai.

Gen. Rathikoune flies the dope
from the Ben Houei Sai area to
Luang Prabang, the Royalist
capital, in helicopters given by the
United States military aid program.

End Of Part One