Air Laos Commerciale
Air Laos Commerciale was an airline operating in Indochina from 1958-65, operated by Bonaventure "Rock" Francisci , whose main cargo was opium and its derivatives. It was the most important of four in this region of Corsican gangsters operated charter companies (" Air Opium ") of the 1950s to 1960s.
development
After the French Air Force withdrew in 1954, there was hardly any air traffic in Indochina. The base of the company was the Wattay airport of the Laotian capital Vientiane . At the time, landing at Laotian airfields - which were often just runways hacked into the jungle - required a permit that identified the flight as réquisition militaire . These requirements were issued by the Lao Air Force under the command of Ouane Rattikone , whose commanders shared in the profit.
Air Laos Commerciale's competitors all suffered accidents or were arrested after 1960. René "Babal" Enjabal , who had operated his own "Air Force", became a employed pilot in 1959. Francisci was also the leading syndicate in France at the time, closely linked to the Guerini syndicate in Marseille.
Freight and flight operations
Ngo Dinh Nhu , brother and advisor to the South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem , had decided to revive the drug sale, which was organized by the state until 1955 and then banned, in order to obtain the means to suppress the armed uprisings against the regime. From 1958 he used the charter companies ("Air Opium") to procure, which were the only ones able to provide reliable transport. He negotiated directly only with Bonaventure Francisci , whom he promised safe conduct for his opium transports from 1958 onwards. Around 1960 the pilots collected 300–600 kg of raw opium per day for onward transport during the season at bush airports in northern Laos. The transporters from north-east Laos dropped their cargo deliberately over southern Cochinchina , Cambodia and the Gulf of Thailand.
Insofar as the airline had carried legitimate cargo, this business collapsed after a pilot intercepted over Thailand confessed in October 1962 that he had dumped opium on the sea, which earned him a 6-week prison term. Francisci's earnings for the precise delivery of 600 kg in 1962 were likely to have been around US $ 20,000, a pilot received an hourly wage of $ 15.
When the Laotian chief of staff, Ouane Rattikone, began to organize opium exports and heroin production for his own account after the political reorganization of 1965, the company was forced out of business. Air America , the front company of the CIA, took over the transport of opium .
fleet
1962: 3 twin-engine Beechcraft C-45F resp. C-18S :
- Beech C-18S (Serial No. 3896), Registration Number: XW-PAG, purchased by Air Laos as: XW-TBF Feb. 1963-1965
- Beech C-18S (serial number 6812), registration number: XW-TBD 1962–1965
- Beech C-45F-BH (Serial No. 8467), registration number: 1944 originally a USAAF machine (No. 87208), sold as F-OAOF, since 1962 XW-TBC
See also
literature
- McCoy, Alfred; The Politics of Heroin; New York 1991 (rev. Ed .; orig. 1972); ISBN 1-55652-126-X
- Karnow, Stanley; The opium must go through; in: Life August 30, 1963, p 11f (arrest of a pilot)