The untold story of an indigenous people running the world�s mightiest narco-state � and America�s struggle to thwart them. In Asia�s narcotics-producing heartland, the Wa reign supreme. They dominate the Golden Triangle, a mountainous stretch of Burma between Thailand and China. Their 30,000-strong army, wielding missiles and attack drones, makes Mexican cartels look like street gangs. Wa moguls are unrivaled in the region�s $60 billion meth trade and infamous for mass-producing pink, vanilla-scented speed pills. Drugs finance Wa State, a bona fide nation with its own laws, anthems, schools, and electricity grid. Though revered by their people, Wa leaders are scorned by US policymakers as vicious �kingpins� who �poison our society for profit.� In Narcotopia, award-winning journalist Patrick Winn uncovers the truth behind Asia�s top drug-trafficking organization, as told by a Wa commander turned DEA informant. This gripping narrative shreds drug war myths and leads to a chilling revelation: the Wa syndicate�s origins are smudged with CIA fingerprints. This is a saga of native people tapping the power of narcotics to create a nation where there was none before � and covert US intelligence operations gone wrong.
(less)The untold story of an indigenous people running the world�s mightiest narco-state � and America�s struggle to thwart them. In Asia�s narcotics-producing heartland, the Wa reign supreme. They dominate the Golden Triangle, a mountainous
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Narcotopia: In Search of the Asian Drug Cartel That Survived the CIA | 
