Who would have thought that you can't trust a spy agency? Oh, everyone knew that already? Well, Patrick Winn's Narcotopia is a wonderful example of how doing the "right" thing can be extremely objective.

Narcotopia tells the story of how a section of Burma became a massive and lasting narco-state while battling the CIA and the DEA. Well, the CIA and DEA were there, but the biggest dangers came from the various groups within Burma. Everyone wanted a piece of the pie or they wanted to destroy the pie.

I had very little background on this subject before I started the book. I also find that books with massive scope can often devolve into becoming a list of names too large for anyone to remember. I am happy to report Winn does not fall into this trap. While this is a wide ranging narrative, most of the action is focused around a man named Saw Lu, who at the very least, is one of the most stubborn men to ever exist. I won't say more, but trust me, this guy did not know the definition of quit.

You get to learn all about the various groups in Burma and Winn does a great job world building without overwhelming the reader. He also explains the rivalry between the CIA and DEA in the War on Drugs. I should mention that Winn comes off rather strong about what criticisms he will level against these organizations in his introduction. I did worry this would become a long diatribe against American policy and turn this from history to sociology. Winn, once again, uses a deft touch and his criticisms are valid and backed by solid reasoning even if you may not agree. The CIA certainly takes the brunt of it, which was fine with me as the son of a DEA agent. This story contains a lot of gray area and Winn never loses sight of that. It's a must read.

(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and PublicAffairs.)7 s4 comments Ula Tardigrade237 22

It is not often that you stumble upon a story that is so big, so important, and yet you have never heard of it before. And a story so well told!

I've read a lot of books about drug trafficking, and quite a few about Burma, but I had no idea about Wa State, a mysterious narco-land hidden in the mountains that is the subject of this fascinating volume. And as the author points out, in 1990 it supplied 60 percent of America's heroin needs, while a much better-known area on the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan supplied only 30 percent. So in terms of new knowledge alone, this book was illuminating. But that is only one of its qualities.

The story of how it all happened is written a thriller and absolutely worth another Netflix "Narcos" series: there are headhunters and sorcerers, warlords and mercenaries, proxy wars fought by global empires, infighting between different branches of the U.S. government, covert CIA missions, and so many larger-than-life characters. But there is more. Patrick Winn doesn't take anything at face value, he digs deeper and uncovers an even more interesting story, the story of a forgotten and maligned nation fighting for a right to exist.

As he writes, “Wa people are indigenous to China’s frontier, just Tibetans and Uyghurs, minorities who’ve suffered deeply under a Chinese government that micromanages their every move. The Wa have faced the same threat. So why is there a “Free Tibet” movement but none to free the Wa? Because they freed themselves. Yet, through Western eyes, they did it the wrong way: by producing illegal drugs, spending the profits on weapons, and daring outsiders to come take their land.”

Winn, an American who has lived in Southeast Asia for many years, paints a harsh portrait of U.S. international involvement. He shows how well-meaning people have been prevented from making a difference by the politics of the moment. He describes feuds between the DEA and the CIA that led local traffickers to view “the Americans as a confounding people, so war they’d fly across the world just to tussle with their own kind”.

It is also a prime example of excellent investigative journalism - the author managed to talk directly to most of the key players and get access to many classified documents, revealing covert actions and strategies. At the same time, he manages to keep his narrative engaging and witty. It is truly a rare achievement, comparable to books by such great writers as Patrick Radeen Keefe.

You have to read this book!

Thanks to the publisher, PublicAffairs, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.favorites non-fiction3 s Robert236 46

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley and Icon Books in exchange for an honest review.

This is a really interesting book about a people I had never heard of before. It's a history of a Burmese ethnic group called the Wa, from the 60s to the present as they went from a minor group of tribes to a major narco-state. It covers the activities of headhunters, missionaries, warlords, communists, American government agents and most of all, drug dealers. It quickly becomes clear that most of these people are out for themselves regardless of their ideology.

Although the book initially seems to be a piece of current affairs journalism, the author couldn't get access to the Wa state so most of the book concerns events decades in the past. The one weakness of the book is that the author has to rely on a small handful of people giving their version of events decades later - which did make me wonder how their version of events could be verified.

The book is at its best when focused on the Wa. The question of whether they are a success is left open, they have created their own state in all but name, but it's entirely dependent on China. The wealth of the drug trade is concentrated in the hands of the elite, with little trickling down to the rest of society. The book is less interesting when focusing on the bureaucratic squabbling of US government agencies, this is a very real issue that hampers success, but it's not a very interesting one.


2 s Alex Orap73 18

This is investigative journalism at its finest. I found this book insightful and learned a lot of new things that enriched my understanding of history, culture, politics and policy making. The main character's personal sacrifice story is wild, too. Overall, it's a book that I highly recommend.1 Hope766 34

I absolutely loved this book1 Toby MuseAuthor 1 book19

Read the review in the TLS1 Manisha993 6

Listened to the audiobook.

This was very well written! I just wish I was more interested in the topic.1 Miranda234 2

An excellent recommendation from Ben! Wonderful reporting and storytelling. I didn't know anything about Wa State, and US and Chinese involvement. I loved Winn's approach to documenting the investigative process and his journies in Burma, coupled with stories of Jacob and his father-in-law Saw Lu.

I was in Pu'er and Mengla (near the China-Laos border) back in 2022. Some locals told me how dangerous the China-Burma border off to the west was, and the horrible conditions of the quarantine hotels there during COVID. This provides a little bit of context of these places.This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.Show full review1 Paul WedelAuthor 7 books1 follower

Journalist Patrick Winn takes readers on a fascinating incursion into the murky world of the largest producer of illegal drugs in the world, the little-known Wa State. Un most accounts of drug production and trafficking, Narcotopia allows readers to see events from the producers’ point of view.
This is no dry account of illegal activity. Winn puts human faces on the key players on the various sides in the war on drugs in Southeast Asia.
Venturing deep into the remote hills of embattled Burma, he found Saw Lu, the tragic founder of the Wa state, who doubled as an idealistic informant for the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). Taking great personal risks, Winn found sources to give him details on the narcotics operation that still today provides a stunning volume of methamphetamines and heroin.
In a triumph of dogged investigative reporting, Winn tracked down the key people in the DEA and the CIA that sadly blundered away a chance to end drug production in the Wa State. Just as impressive, he gets them to tell the story of infighting within the US government that ended up giving the Wa little alternative but to expand their drug industry. This reveals the misunderstandings at the heart of American drug policy. Winn shows how the poverty-stricken Wa were villainized for selling drugs when, with a modest provision of food, hospitals, and schools, they would have been willing to get out of the business.
This blunder is a tragedy for all those who have become addicted to heroin and meth, but at least an equal tragedy for the ethnic minorities of Burma, especially the Wa and the Shan. The American failure to make the deal that could have ended the drug business in Wa State and Shan State left that area with a brutal two-class society: illiterate peasants and underpaid soldiers forced to do the bidding of a drug-dealing elite living in luxurious mansions. The Wa State army now protects not only the narcotics business but an array of brothels, casinos, call-room scams, and illegal online gambling that funnel riches into what is now a well-armed client state of China.
Winn’s self-deprecating and often humorous descriptions of his excursions into Burma provide a fascinating frame-tale for his detailed history of the Wa narcotics business. That history goes back to the efforts of the CIA to destabilize China after the 1949 Communist triumph. The CIA allowed anti-communist Chinese forces in northern Burma and later in Thailand to trade in opium and heroin in return for intelligence and armed incursions (usually disastrous) across the Chinese border. As the anti-communist Chinese grew old and complacent, their places were taken by armed insurgencies among the Wa and Shan people.
Winn describes the complex intrigues among the Wa, Shan, Chinese, DEA, CIA, and US State Department that led to the unintended growth of a “narcotopia” in northeastern Burma. He utilizes recently declassified US government files and in-depth interviews to document the story.
Remarkably, Winn tells this story in the words of the extraordinary characters involved:
• Saw Lu, the Wa idealist who suffered torture and isolation in his effort to end the drug trade and develop the Wa nation as a friend of the United States;
• Wei Xuegang, the cold, calculating genius who developed the trade in opium into a sophisticated global operation with multiple products, modern production capability, well-known branding, and complex logistics;
• Khun Sa, the powerful drug lord and ethnic army commander ultimately out-maneuvered by Wei
• Angelo Saladino, the DEA agent who cultivated Saw Lu as an informant and driver of the plan to end drug production in Wa State
• Rick Horn, the muscular, motorcycle-riding DEA agent who brought the Wa eradication plan to the brink of success
• Bill Young, the former CIA agent in Northern Thailand who helped Saw Lu draft his plan. He was the grandson of the legendary William Marcus Young, who brought Christianity to the Wa.
These are only a few of the colorful characters in Winn’s account. Clearly a talented interviewer, Winn gets his sources to talk about embarrassing failures and internal conflicts. He has a keen ear for telling details the AK-47 kept in a US embassy safe or the addiction of a drug lord to powdered instant coffee. His trips into Burma allow him to provide lyrical descriptions of the remote hills and the hard-scabble lives of the inhabitants.
As Bangkok correspondent for United Press International in the 1980s and 90s, I covered Burma and the drug trade for many years. I accompanied Thai troops on a raid on Khun Sa’s headquarters that failed to find the Shan leader, and I took a long mule ride to observe Khun Sa’s army, complete with the anti-aircraft missiles that Winn describes. However, there is much in “Narcotopia” that was new to me. The book reveals how close the deal to eradicate Wa drugs came to fruition and shows why it failed.
I have known Patrick for over a decade, so I may be biased. However, I believe he has written an important story and provided a valuable lesson that the US agencies involved should study carefully. I doubt they will.
Dan1,292 37

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher PublicAffairs for an advance copy of this book that looks at the rise of a nation based on producing narcotics, the world's largest drug kingpin, and the man who was their from the beginning and worked to make his nation a better place, and the American involvement that ruined these chances.

The War on Drugs has been a war on truth as much as war on pharmaceutical. Disinformation from marijuana, psychedelics, addiction, and even the people who profit from it. Billions have been spent on propaganda, military equipment, DARE programs, paying people not to grow things, and letting that which is grown to help others. Lives have been ruined or lost, countries held back, people imprisoned, and criminals made leaders and given stipends by our government for their great work. America has also had a problem being a world leader. One one hand we export Elvis, Jesus and Coke-Cola, and act as the world's police force. On the other hand our government has been involved with the worse of the worst, propping up dictators and warlords in the interest of the greater good, ie America. Interagency battles between CIA, DEA and FBI have probably led to more casualties and job loss than any battles with cartels. And yet we still roll on, as states legalize certain drugs, and doctors begin to prescribe psychedelics for depression, or PTSD for soldiers trapped in America's forever wars. Narcotopia: In Search of the Asian Drug Cartel That Survived the CIA by journalist and expert on the narcotics trade in Asia, Patrick Winn has written a book about a small nation state that has become the highest producer of methamphetamines in the world, the warlord that controls the trade, and a brave man, who tried to help his people, and was failed by everyone around him.

The book is a profile of the Wa State, a autonomous state in Burma that borders China, under the control of the Wa people. Known as fierce headhunters at on time, and huge opium producers, the Wa are mostly subjugated by their miliary leaders, who use the area to produce meth, which they send out throughout Asia. The world's most successful drug kingpin lives in a giant mansion/compound Wei Xuegang. Fiercely private, a germaphobe who cooks his own meals in fear of poisoning, Wei Xuegang is probably the most successful drug lord in history. In an attempt to find out more about the nation of Wa, Winn had a case of serendipity. Winn's translator happened to be the son-in-law of an important man in Wa's history, who helped form the nation state, though was not a fan of the drug culture. Saw Lu was a Christian convert, who had spent time among the Wa, as a teacher, a military leader, and finally a high-ranking official, with dreams of making life better for his people. So much so he became a confidential informant for the DEA, sharing information, plans and gossip from inside Wa. But gaining many enemies, some of which Saw Lu could never have seen coming.

Both a history of the Golden Triangle area, the rise and fall of opium production, the conversion offer to meth and the high profits, and profiles of both drug kingpin and a man who wanted to help change his people for the better. Winn tells a very good story, starting in the 50's with CIA involvement in the area, to Saw Lu's work among the Wa, various revolutions, and changes in American policy in the area. Saw Lu is a fascinating man, one who went through incredible hardship and torture trying to help his people, and Winn is fair in portraying him. The history is what is really amazing, and how America on one hand tried to make things better, on the other, made things much worse. Winn has done a very good job in telling this story, and keeping the narrative clear and informative.

One of my favorite nonfiction books this year. There is a lot here, and lots to take in. Winn really does capture the people and the times well, and makes for a fascinating history. History readers will enjoy this, true crime fans will also. However this is much more than a drug story, it really is about a man who tried to make a difference, even after everything went horribly wrong. HSB134 11

Reading this book I was reminded, oddly enough, of one of the first things I saw at Mykonos: A t-shirt with the words Mykonos Fucks Ibiza.

That's pretty much what Narcotopia does to Netflix's Narcos and about 90% of the drug-themed shows, books, and films, fictional and non-fictional that you may have come across.

When the Burmese drug mafia showed up in HBO's Barry - an incredibly good show, BTW - while dimly aware of the Golden Triangle, I assumed it was just one of the shows many quirks, a crime debriefing by the police chief that soon gets hijacked by Akira Kurosawa references.

Narcotopia reveals the genesis and growth of the 'Burmese drug mafia' in terrifying detail. The Wa have traditionally been a war tribe of headhunters with opium as their only source of income for centuries - it being one of the few plants that survives in the hostile environment they live in. Narcotopia chronicles how Wa and Wa-adjacent opium has become the bulwark of a narcostate - a country with two separate landmasses nestled within Myanmar that has, at least at the time of the writing of this book, carved an unassailable niche for itself.

If you had a dim view of American interventions in the affairs of other sovereign countries before - I certainly do - this book will have you white hot with rage realising the extent of the role the CIA and other so-called defenders of the American Way have played in truly globalising addiction, unbothered by the 'collateral damage' even in their own home country, but even more so if it was happening elsewhere in the world.

The book is anchored around the narrative of Saw Lu - a man of spectacular determination and bloodymindedness whose rose-tinted view of the United States remains unaffected by massive evidence to the contrary, and in the face of incredible personal hardship including multiple torture sessions that would have quite easily felled a lesser person.

It's also the story of Wei, financial mastermind of the Wa-state who, with a brutal and terrifying efficiency, pivots his crime and drug and empire to ensure its longterm survival.

The ultimate casualty of both these narratives appear to be the Wa people, and of course the populations of Southeast Asia — the market for the enormous quantities of meth produced by the Wa state.

What makes this book truly deserve its 5 stars is just how fantastically it is written.

The decision to built it around the stories of people actively involved with or adjacent to the drug trade instantly raises it head and shoulders above other, more overtly propagandist narratives which have about as much nuance as The Lord of the Rings.

In books this, there's also typically a lot more research than makes it to the final cut, and it takes an author of immense skill and respect for the reader's time and patience to know when and what to trim, rather than barf out a tiresome regurgitation of facts and statistics.

Narcotopia moves at the terrifying pace of an overloaded truck with a hopped-up on speed driver, trundling its way towards you, down the slopes and hairpin bends of a mountainous road.

This is quite frankly the only book on the drug business you need to read. James398 7

Narcotopia is an excellent journalistic account of the Wa, an indigenous group inhabiting the rugged mountains between China and Burma, who have carved out their own republic on the back of narcotics.

While central, south and west Asia has the Golden Crescent, a slice of land which covers Afghanistan and Pakistan, south east Asia has the Golden Triangle, which covers northeastern Myanmar, northwestern Thailand and northern Laos. Both regions have produced huge amounts of the worlds opium (and hence heroin) though the Golden Crescent is the site of much of the word’s supply now. The Golden Triangle meanwhile has moved much more into the production of methamphetamine in illicit labs.

Winn takes his reader on a methodical journey, tracing the formation of arguably the world's mightiest narco-state, which the Wa has carved out for itself. He delves into the intricate web of personalities who have vied for power and control throughout this history, including CIA officers, DEA agents, and the Wa themselves. But he’s to be congratulated for telling the story of the major Wa figures in their own right, and not just through the lens of the Americans.

The Wa, through trafficking heroin and meth, have established a fully functioning nation complete with its own infrastructure and institutions. Winn's meticulous research is evident as he uncovers the existence of highways, anthems, schools, and flags within the boundaries of this narco-state.
That said, this is no hagiography. Winn highlights the dual nature of the Wa as both crime lords and visionaries, and he doesn’t shy away from the former. He doesn’t gloss over the drug trafficking that the Wa have engaged in, or the fact that their product has undoubtedly sown much addiction and misery throughout the world.

But equally, he shows that un other indigenous peoples - the Uyghur in China, the Rohingya in Myanmar, - or other oppressed peoples, such as the Tibetans, it is precisely this drug trafficking and the powerful military forces the Wa were able to raise, that has stopped them from falling victim to similar. And in that context, he asks who can blame them?

In Narcotopia, Patrick Winn delivers a thought-provoking narrative, a commendable piece of investigative journalism, which tells an untold story little known outside of the region. This is an insightful and valuable book.
1 Catherine Woodman5,372 112

I had never heard about this place, the Wa people, or what was happening here until I read a characteristically short article reviewing this book, and the phenomenon described therein, in the Economist this year. The short story is that every opportunity the US has to mess up a situation with either the War on Drugs or the War on Communism, they (we) will most spectacularly misread the situation, make the poorest choices, and in this case, when that is figured out, the winner is able to play both of those sides against each other and emerge with something that looks a win.
The book follows the Wa people—a tribe situated along the Burma-China border and best known for head-hunting—over the last half-century as they established the United Wa State Army, an independent government in control of a 30,000-man fighting force and a colossal drug cartel that produced heroin and later switched to manufacturing methamphetamine. The book centers on several Wa figures, including Saw Lu, a Baptist who fought to unite and modernize his people (he led a successful campaign in the 1960s to get them to stop head-hunting) and to wean them off drug trafficking, all while serving as an informant for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration; and his nemesis Wei Xuegang, the secretive criminal genius who turned the UWSA into the dominant cartel in Southeast Asia’s Golden Triangle region. Stirring the pot is the feud between the DEA, which backed Saw Lu, and the CIA, which nurtured the drug trade and sabotaged Saw Lu’s efforts. Part gangster saga, part espionage thriller, and part liberation epic, Winn’s narrative alternates between rollicking adventure and harrowing violence conveyed in vivid, muscular prose. It’s a riveting portrait of how deeply the drug trade is embedded in Southeast Asia’s modernizing economies—and in America’s foreign policy. Brooks116 7

"Narcotopia: In Search of the Asian Drug Cartel That Survived the CIA" by Patrick Winn is a gripping and eye-opening exploration of one of the world's most powerful and enigmatic drug-trafficking organizations. Winn delves deep into the Wa State's control over the Golden Triangle, exposing the complex and often disturbing reality of a narco-state operating on a level far beyond what is typically known in the West.

Through the story of a Wa commander turned DEA informant, Winn unveils the Wa's dominance in the global meth trade and their influence over their own quasi-nation. His meticulous research and vivid storytelling shed light on the shadowy interplay between the Wa's rise and covert US intelligence operations, revealing how these factors have intertwined over decades.

Readers will be captivated by the history and intricacies of the Wa State, as well as the broader implications for international drug trade and geopolitics. Winn's work not only challenges conventional drug war narratives but also highlights the resilience and resourcefulness of the Wa people. This is a must-read for anyone interested in the complex and often overlooked world of Asian drug trafficking. Kevin12 1 follower

A comprehensive dive into the modern history of Wa- its evolution from headhunter clans to Southeast Asia's largest drug cartel producing 60% of global heroin, the major political players and warlords who fought for its status as an unofficial sovereign state, and its extensive, complicated, entanglement with global superpowers US and China. The Wa people have survived communism flooding over their borders and America's war on drugs, but have also received critical support from these same aggressors.
This book taught me a lot about a relatively unknown group of people who, through drugs, have influenced the world from the shadow of Burma's eastern mountains.favorites Wanda Keith534 9

I had never heard of the Wa state, but now I will never forget it. If you have ever wondered how the drug trade became such a big part of our culture, read this book and you will be in for a true adventure and eye opening. Wa was responsible for 60% of the heroin trade in the 1990's! This book is full of facts such as this. Winn did a thorough job of researching this part of the world and his book has it all: headhunters, warlords, mercenaries, Burmese, Chinese, DEA, CIA, and so much more. I love his writing style and the way he goes right to the sources to get his information. This is a must read. Ana-Maria Bujor987 64

I knew exactly nothing about the people describe din the book, about their unofficial state, and the drug operation stemming from it all. And I found this book riveting.
It starts a bit slow, but when it gets going, it gets going. I really appreciate how well the author managed to flesh out the main people involved in the story, creating a mostly grey image where the bad guys have reasons and maybe the good guys are not so good anyway. The book is fascinating, alert, filled with colorful details and powerful storytelling. I could recommend it to just about anyone.
And yes, CIA managed to finance 2 different heroin narcostates. Good job guys, good job!history non-fiction2 s Laurie138 3

A fascinating book. Well written and extremely well researched. The author managed to meet people and gather info that required quite a bit of finesse. I already knew some of the players from the 80s (ie Khun Sa) and have a book or two about that era of poppy farming and heroin trafficking from my years living, working and traveling in SE Asia in the 80s. But this book delves deep into the history, the progression of the trade, all the factions and groups involved. One of the most interesting books I’ve read in quite a while. Kevin McAvoy344 1 follower

Although I have not read anything before about the Wa State in Myanmar, I feel this book could have been more interesting. The locals are forced to grow poppies or evicted or killed.
That's the only fact I learned from this wordy blustery book.
The author seems to think that the CIA and DEA being corrupt and incompetent is a news flash.
I just found it getting duller and duller. I did finish the book but don't recommend it.
Some other say 'Intriguing" "Couldn't put down" etc.
Nope it put me to sleep several times. Karen294

This was an interesting study of a part of the world few people know about, the state of Wa, deep in the mountains of Myanmar, mostly inaccessible to the western world, and dependent on the drug trade to fund its economy. Wa was also the focus of fierce battles between American agencies (specifically the CIA and the DEA) in which people and communities were simply pawns in battles for power and control. I appreciated the author’s efforts to shift the usual narratives and to humanize the people of this remote and alien territory. non-fiction Randal White888 79

I was very surprised at the amount of drug trafficking coming out of the Asian area. I had just assumed that the majority was from Central/South America. This is an eye-opening book. Easy to read, somewhat difficult to follow with all the different names, and a good flow. I think that I learned a lot. crime-police-corrections-drugs netgalley political-diplomacy-terrorism Sierra352 6

This is the best nonfiction book I've read in a long time. It perfectly fills that niche of being about a group of people I've never heard of but who impact American lives. Fascinating characters, tons of amazing research, and information that is nearly impossible to get outside of this book.

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Dalton308 6

Every book or article I've ever read only mentions the Mexican cartels and completely fails to mention the Asian side of things that this book brings to light. Important read if you are interested in this type of non fiction. Peter Staples20

A history that amazed me

This book must have required an awful lot of work and it shows it's so well done. Extremely interesting. Very sobering especially regarding the CIA and the DEA and the corruption and vice they've supported and kept going for decades. Matthew Picchietti254 1 follower

Excellent journalism combined with exhaustive historical research. Drags a little towards the end, but does justice to the good work done by idealistic people while facing brutal odds. Highly recommend. Jodi823

Fascinating. I simply had no idea. It's not just learning a whole history of events and people, but it's also the insight into human nature and the complexities of groups and nations. Must read. 1 Femke Munting7 1 follower

Really interesting, easy to read but still very informative. The end fell off a little for me, but would still recommend it. Megan1,020

Audio. I want to be more interested in this book, but it just didn’t grab me. I would to know more of Wa culture, but this wasn’t the window for me. Diane Anderson391 6

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