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Prime Minister Khiem, former Vice President Ky, or any of their close supporters, in the narcotics traffic. In Saigon, the Survey Team was also informed by U.S. officials that there is no available evidence which would incriminate the GVN's leadership.
In the case of the Vietnamese military, General Ngo Dzu, former commanding general of Military Region 2, has been accused in several quarters of being involved in narcotics trafficking. Although the U.S. intelligence sources claim to have no evidence which would link Dzu to the drug trade directly, the General's father is believed to be im- plicated in a heroin trafficking ring by U.S. officials.
The most prominent member of the South Vietnamese Government to be arrested and convicted for trafficking in narcotics is a former Lower House Deputy, Pham Chi Thien. He was apprehended on March 10, 1971, at Tan Son Nhut Airport while trying to smuggle in 4.6 kilos of heroin. On March 27, 1972, he was sentenced to 7 years imprisonment. On the same date the Saigon Criminal Court also sen- tenced codefendant Vu Van Than, a former National policeman, to 7 years confinement and his wife, Le Thi Tut, to 5 years confinement. Others in the case included Nguyen Thi Than and Tran Quy Due who were sentenced to terms of 5 years and 18 months respectively. Another defendant, Nguyen Ky (no relation to former Vice President Ky) was acquitted.
Apart from the case cited above, the only other arrest and convic- tion of a government official was that of an ARVN colonel who, ac- cording to an Associated Press release of October 17, 1972, was fired for trafficking in opium. In spite of the Presidential decree which sets forth the death penalty for opium traffickers, the colonel was merely censured, ordered into retirement, and given 3 months leave with pay. Short of criminal prosecution, some Vietnamese officials who were either suspected of involvement in the narcotics trade, or of doing lit- tle to retard trafficking, have merely been replaced or retired. Among those are the former Director General of Customs, the Chief of Na- tional Police, and the top customs official at Tan Son Nhut Airport.
In summing up, three points should be made:
(1) Few high ranking officials have actually been tried or con- victed.
(2) Despite the stringent antidrug law decreed by President Thieu, the sentences levied so far against Vietnamese officials have been com- paratively mild.
(3) Although rumors involving some members of the GVN leader- ship in the drug trade are rampant, U.S. intelligence sources say that they have not accumulated firm evidence which would incriminate those top officials most often mentioned in accusations.
With regard to the latter point, a theory advanced by one American official with years of experience in Vietnam could, in part, explain why Vietnamese officials often are insulated from any direct connection to the drug trade. According to this official, the power brokers and influ- ence peddlers in the Vietnamese underworld are often female relatives, wives and/or mistresses of high ranking government officials, not the officials themselves.
Many American officials are of the opinion that, given the range of
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