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"In 1963, General Phoumi Nosavan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, issued an order permitting me to control opium and the opium traders. The order is herewith attached :
‘AUTHORIZATION
'A. Mr. Saveng, Manager of the SACDA Company in Vientiane is authorized to proceed with the purchase and sale of opium within the Kingdom of Laos.
'B. The circulation of the products belonging to said company within the ter- ritory of Laos will be free and assured by the Ministry of National Security of which General Ouan Rathikoun is the permanent representative.
'C. The sale of this opium to the smokers of Laos is absolutely prohibited, except with the special authorization of the Ministry of National Security.
D. As the representative of the Ministry, General Ouan Rathikoun is em- powered to deliver all authorization in view of facilitating the functioning of the company.
'E. The details of application will be made in a new contract between General Ouan Rathikoun, representative of the Ministry, and Mr. Saveng, representative of the SACDA Company.
'Vientiane, 7 October 1963
Vice President of the Council
of Ministers Signed and Sealed Division General Phoumi Nosavan'
"After being ordered to do so in 1963, I learned about those who traded in opium and about the quantity of opium produced in Laos and sent from Burma. I also learned of the number of opium addicts in Vientiane.
"After having controlled opium for five months, I saw that it was not good to continue to control it because such control was criticized by foreigners. I then sent my report to General Phoumi, informing him that it was not good to control opium because all merchants were transacting their sales and purchases outside the established channels, since they were losing money by remaining in channels.
"General Phoumi then issued an official order for stopping the control of opium on 2 May 1964.
"At that time, after the Government had issued its order for stopping the con- trol of opium, General (Thao) Ma was Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Lao Air Force. Instead of commanding all 1,250 men of the Air Force, General Thao Ma controlled only 40 pilots of the T-28 planes. He did not control the transportation personnel and the personnel of other section of the Air Force. That caused a lack of discipline among officers of the Air Force. These officers were hired to transport things and they did so because they needed money. There was no discipline in the Air Force and the men of the Air Force played the game of nepotism until General Thao Ma flew to another country after he bombed a military camp in Vientiane.
"In 1966, after General Thao Ma had fled, General Sourith was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Lao Air Force, a position which he still
holds.
"I called a meeting of the Air Force officers from throughout the country at the Wattay Air Force Camp.
"I asked them to maintain discipline in the Air Force and prohibited them from being hired to transport illicit goods. After being told by some of the Air Force officers about their poor living conditions, I decided to allow them to trans- port goods on the condition that the transportation must be organized and made under only one chief's orders; there must be no transportation of private goods for any officer of the Air Force; the transportation must occur in the Kingdom of Laos only; here must be no transportation of goods outside the Kingdom of Laos; and it must be the duty of the merchants themselves to transport goods outside of Laos.
"Seventy percent of the income from this activity went to the Air Force, 15 per- cent to the pilots, 10 percent to those who worked on the ground, and five percent to the mechanics.
"At the same time, I contacted the U.S. Government asking it to aid the Air Force. I told the U.S. Government that if the Air Force was given aid, it would stop completely the transportation of opium. My request was considered by the
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