Narcotopia: In Search of the Asian Drug Cartel that Survived the CIA on June 8th, 7pm, Books on the Rise, Richmond

Posted: May 25th, 2024 | No Comments »

Join us for a fascinating talk with Paul French in conversation with Patrick Winn on his new book Narcotopia: In Search of the Asian Drug Cartel that Survived the CIA on June 8th, 7pm.

The jagged mountains dividing China and Burma belong to the Wa, an indigenous group who have outwitted the CIA to create the world’s mightiest narco-state, controlling more territory than Israel and with more troops than Sweden. Are they crime lords? Or visionaries?

Wa State has become a real nation with its own highways, anthems, schools and flags. Its leaders promise freedom, using profits from trafficking heroin and meth to attain what China’s other frontier peoples, Tibetans and Uyghurs, can only dream of: a state of their own. Patrick Winn embarks on a risky journey of discovery, chasing clues about the forbidden republic from Thailand to Burma to the secretive Wa State itself.

Patrick Winn is an award-winning investigative journalist. He mostly covers rebellion and black markets in Southeast Asia.

Tickets and more details here

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