EMBASSY HAS CORRUPTION FILE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-01601R000300360095-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 17, 2000
• Sequence Number: 95
• Publication Date: July 12, 1971
• Content Type: NSPR

STATINTL
ed'For Release
By G'eorgc llcArthttr
Loy Angeles Tlcnes
SAIGON-The U,S.~~ cou-
? gressional charges- that
South Vietnam's itIaj. Gen.
Ngo Dzu is directly involved
in drug trafficking has
.caused a severe case of the
jitters among ranking
Americans in Saigon.
The charges come at a
time when, the etlrbassy is
once again pushinb a drive
against corruption anion-
South Vietnamese offic?iats,
high and low.
The embassy is tmaasy
about the Dzu case-and
all the rest ~~ b e c a u s e
U.S. elmbassa~lor )Jlls~vorth
Bttnlcer anti ~ his military
counterpart Gen, Crei^h.ton
Abrams have detailed ].now1-
ed~e of enott~h haI7I:Y-
panky to cause an uproar
it it ryas published. -
Amonb the most closely
guarded secrets in the cm?
bassy's files are detailed
reports covering the fi-
nancial misdeeds of a vast
at?ray of South ~'ietinamcse
generals ~ and civilian offi-
vials.
In an tmguarded moment,
one ranking American with
many years in Vietnam once
reported there were only
taro honest generals in the
South Vietnamese arnty-?
One of then has since been
killed and the other is lIaj,
GCn. Sg0 Qllallg Tt't10tt
who commands the IV
Corps area cor.:prising the
iVIekong Delta r ;ion
.
. And another American ;~otal~le StiffeninL
}with access to the files The mounting narcotics
added. "Then are an ;,, ? ln?oblem in Vletlram. hnm.
comment about Dzu, tray,
implied that it was noty up
to the Saigon ~OVeI'111nCIlt to
take actiolt.
In Saigon, U.S. press
spokesmen would say noth-
ing beyond Bray's noncom-
-- r`-"~"- f~ - -?~~-?` center Of CII'U? raffickin STATINTL
ally involved their wivt;s . stiffening within the U.S, a t gin
are." embassy and also within 5outlt Vietnam. This is pos-
.,' President Thieu's official es- sibly because it is the major
While such swee
i
p
ng tablishment? headquarters .for the South
statements ..are probably _Vietnamese air force-an
overdrawn tt d :~merican offici?ls sa -
tey o tetlect that the Sa1goI1 overmucnt Item that has been used in
accurately .the views of the past to liuic .~ ice Presi.
knowledgeable people who has been told that heroin dent Nguyen Cao Ky, the
have long grap]slecl with the traffic}:ing. is the one crime former air marslral a'ho still
problem of corruption in that cannot be tolerated. retains cte facto control of
South Vietnam. -There is some evidence that the air force, with the ber-
the South Vi
t
m
e
namese gen- gin traffic.
illottntai.r of Char,es crags and other ^~f~~iais .... __
` advisors have funneled into One americanv vofficial mentlY denied this, it is
the embassy a mountain o.f tvho admits that soiue genet- widely accepted in South
detailed charges, all labeled als may- have been involved Vietnam that he was in-
-top secret in the interest of in ^~ . ~ volved in the old opium
maintainitt~ past heroin smui~hnd trade until he decided to
relationships says that cltey have- nowv brush up his public ima~fe
with the Saigon govern- dropped it
meat. These have been tom- Dzu vvas a l r e a d y on
piled by military officers, ci- This official says that shaky ~rotllld tivhen the
vilians