NARCOTOPIA is officially out. "Those who fail to read this forsake their chance to know the truth." — @RobertoSaviano https://t.co/MBVbf2j0KF

And here's my three-part audio series that @sopasia highlighted: https://t.co/cw08zz3Jyb

Thanks to @sopasia for honorably mentioning my work in the "Excellence in Audio Reporting" category. And congrats to @AChilkoti, @rebeccahenschke, Jack Aung and Ko Ko Aung.

From JFK file release: A French ex-convict told a CIA officer in 1959 that "CHICOMS" (Chinese Communists) would give smugglers free opium — if they'd traffic it to the US. Pure hearsay, of course, but it's still interesting to read raw intel files, even if they're ancient.

From the 1961 memo: US ambassadors often outmaneuvered by CIA station chiefs who've "been in the country longer," enjoy bigger budgets, deeper contacts and can pursue "a different policy than that of the ambassador." Career-minded ambassadors will make nice and avoid conflict.

In the early 1990s, one-third of the 50+ employees in the US embassy in Burma were CIA. As a fmr. DEA agent told me: CIA and the State Dept are "cross-fertilized ... to a great extent, they are the same agency." Though I'm sure diplomats would put it differently.

US embassies double as spy stations. Other countries do this too. They just don't have an apparatus vast as the CIA. But it's interesting to see JFK-era memos showing some in the White House fighting CIA encroachment — a fight they would lose. Badly.

Duterte's drug war was supposed to terrify meth users/dealers into quitting. Demand would shrink. Few would risk trafficking. Meth, made rare, should've grown very, very expensive. What actually happened? A gram in 2018, when killing was rampant: ~$130 Current price: ~$120.

Myanmar analyst Andrew Selth on this strange story — and intelligence agencies' silence. https://t.co/yntfkxWOwR

My Q+A with veteran actress Lek Patravadi (ครูเล็ก) who plays a resort owner in The White Lotus — a huge role that arrived in the twilight of her career. She explains why, initially, she turned it down. https://t.co/WTF34mRX6v

Possibilities include: A) Myanmar's military enriched uranium at some point and it slipped out B) Myanmar's military got it from N. Korea or Russia C) Samples originate from USSR's "loose nukes." D) US lab error Here's my radio story for @TheWorld 🧵9/x https://t.co/QOq31VZsUZ

I rang a senior officer from Shan State Army - South. He said "it's not true" and joked that, if they *did* have enriched uranium, "we'd already have independence. We'd be rich, rich guys!" (@FrontierMM did a great story on this last year) https://t.co/oc4uNbrnxr 🧵8/x

Where did Ebisawa and his cohorts get the samples? The DEA indictment points to Shan State Army - South, one of many armed groups controlling patches of Myanmar. I've been to their territory three times. Lots of bamboo villages, rolling hills, scant electricity. 🧵7/x

So we're left with a mystery. A DEA agent acquired this image from the would-be sellers. Steel drums reading ยูเรเนียม (uranium in Thai) and a geiger counter indicating radioactive material. They claimed to have 101 kilos of uranium oxide. Were they BS-ing? Or not? 🧵6/x

I revisited this case for @TheWorld, seeking clarity from @DEAHQ. They wouldn't answer any questions. Wouldn't even say which US govt lab determined the samples contained weapons-grade plutonium and uranium. 🧵5/x

Ebisawa now awaits sentencing, potentially life in a US prison. The case is concluding. But wait! Weapons-grade nuclear materials swirling around the jungles of Myanmar — a country in the throes of a revolutionary war? Is that not a big deal? 🧵4/x

Long story short: Ebisawa and some cohorts from Myanmar's Shan State brought samples of nuclear materials into Thailand. The samples were nabbed and sent to a US govt lab. They tested positive for uranium and "weapons-grade plutonium," according to a federal indictment. 🧵3/x

As the story goes, a middle-aged Japanese criminal named Takeshi Ebisawa was into a bit of everything: arms dealing, narcotics... and selling nuclear materials acquired in Myanmar. He ran his mouth to an undercover DEA agent, precipitating his downfall. 🧵2/x

Is there enriched uranium and "weapons-grade plutonium" for sale on the black market in Myanmar? Hard to believe but that's the conclusion of one of the DEA's stranger cases, now wrapping up without clear answers. 🧵1/x

Had a great conversation w/ Brendan from @HistNerdsUnited on Southeast Asian narcotics, Wa State and the DEA. Check it out. https://t.co/R7jCZR9T4K

War elephants still exist. But only in Myanmar — in the hands of the anti-junta resistance. Elephants go where roads don't. They don't need fuel, other than foliage. In battle they're useless, but as transport vehicles, they're solid. Trucks get stuck in mud. Elephants do not.