~ 720th Military Police Battalion Reunion Association Vietnam History Project ~

Anti Drug Enforcement Campaign
 

        At this time the following conditions existed in Can Tho. The whole town was off limits from 2200 hours (10:00PM) to 0600 hours (6:00AM). Only those places with an "On Limits Sign" were open to U.S. personnel. The number of Americans in the area was rapidly declining due to the force draw down under the Vietnamization program.

 

        The cost of Heroin which was about $5.00 per vial when I arrived in August 1970 was now between $1.00 and $2.00 per vial due to less customers. Units could send as may of their people to town on pass as they wished.

        May Those of us who had been there awhile (I'd been there over 9 months) began to see a change in the drug problem. Heroin was in great supply. So much was around that most apprehensions I made either started with a drug possession or drugs were discovered when the subject was searched.

        One case stands out in my mind. SP/4 Russell Moulton and I were working together at this time doing foot patrol and bar checks. As we walked down an alley towards the rear of several bars we observed a drug transaction. This was odd in that it was out in the open and when we apprehended the American suspect he was in possession of a handful of 8 or 10 vials of heroin. The quantity was pretty high. One (1) vial or a partial vial was the norm, not a handful.

        The heroin sold was either injected or smoked. It was normally smoked in menthol cigarettes, Kool and Salem to be specific. This was such a common practice that at the beginning of the big drug crackdown these two brands of cigarettes were removed from the Post Exchanges (PX), and possession of these brands of cigarettes was considered "Probable Cause" to search the person in possession.
 
SSG Murray

        Also at this time there was an undercover U.S. Army, Criminal Investigation Division (CID) drug investigation going on. The contact for at least one of the undercover MP’s was SSG Charles "Mother" Murray, B Company.

        SSG Murray introduced me to this undercover MP so he would have an additional contact in case he could not contact SSG Murray. The MP provided us information on drugs and military deserters, which were passed to CID and the Provost Marshal’s Office for raids, arrests etc. The normal place to contact him was the Cat's Eye Bar.

        If the undercover MP needed to discontinue his operation, which he did, SSG Murray or I could be contacted to get him safely back . As the number of troops departed Vietnam the problem grew worse.
 

June There was a relocation of Military Police (MP) assets to Can Tho. We knew before hand this was going to occur because we had to make room in our billets for a lot of new people.

22 June (on or about) All of Military Region IV (IV Corps Tactical Zone) was placed off limits to all U.S. military personnel on pass and they were all now restricted to their installations, unless on combat operations or orders for other travel. No "passes" were authorized.

Day 1, Comprehensive Anti Drug Enforcement Campaign (From a conversation I had with SP/4 Rudolph "Rudy" Ferdinand about 6 years ago). SP/4 Ferdinand and I were assigned to a motor patrol together. There were now so many MP's in the Can Tho Detachment that for the first time we had designated patrol area's. Rudy and I had the area to the south of the MP compound. It included some bars but was mainly a residential area. We picked up GI's buy the truckload on the first day. As I recall on Day 1 all the people that were picked up were returned to their units and not charged with anything unless it was a drug possession violation.

Day 2 Rudy and I again worked together. This was good for both of us because we knew each other and were comfortable working together. The MP's who had recently been assigned to us did not know us or the city so I was glad to be with someone from Can Tho. The second day was pretty much a repeat of the first with three exceptions: There were many less GI's in town; Most of those we caught this day went to the detoxification center not their units; and, that evening there were civil disturbances at the Can Tho Army Airfield and Binh Thuy Air Force Base. The U.S. soldiers who had been trapped on the bases and were drug users, wanted off base to resupply, they were beginning to suffer from withdraw. I worked the reaction force to Binh Thuy. We went there to basically block the gates. Fortunately we did not have any serious problems. There was also a separate reaction force for the Can Tho Army Airfield. As I recall CPT Kenneth Pillsbury commanded both forces. We were called out numerous times during the drug crackdown operation.

Day 3 Was similar to day 2.

Day 4, and until the end of the Anti Drug Enforcement Campaign A serious effort was made to raid the local drug supply network and find the many U.S. military deserters living in the area. This was the beginning of identifying a lot of long term deserters.

         There were combined Vietnamese/American drug raids at the time. Some of them were commanded by a U.S. Army Captain who was an adviser to the Canh Sat's (Vietnamese National Police). The Captain wore the brown camouflage uniform normally worn by their field forces and was fluent in Vietnamese. He had been around Can Tho for a long time and was not one of the "new people". However, I do not recall his name. I worked a number of raids with him and his force. One raid in particular that took place in downtown Can Tho stands out. There were about four MP's assigned to the raid team with a very large Canh Sat force, maybe 20 or so. As we approached the location the Canh Sat's refused to proceed any further and left us there alone. It was the only time I had ever seen them openly balk at their job.

        The number of long term deserters we encountered at this time was very surprising. The local Vietnamese town folks began to tell us where the deserters were staying and we started to pick them up. The detachment MP's had a pool going and kept track of who caught the deserter who had been out the longest. I don't remember who won but Rudy and I got a guy who had been a deserter almost 4 years and we didn’t!

        We worked extremely long hours during this time and I remember the last night pretty well. Can Tho was like a "Ghost Town" and several of us, including SSG Murray, were standing at the MP Compound gate talking when SFC Boggs came up to me and wanted to know if I knew where he could get something to eat.

        I remember walking down the street to get him a sandwich very late that night and when I returned some of the "New M's" told me they thought I had been there too long, because I went by myself with only my 45 and shotgun. SSG Murray laughed at them and told them they had no idea. (I had been in Can Tho 11 months, I was 21 years old).
 

        After the U.S. troops were allowed back into town on pass there were a couple of changes that took effect. The number of people on pass from any unit was restricted to something like 10 to 15% of the units total strength. This even applied to us at the detachment. The hours the town was off limits was changed to 2100 hours (9:00PM) to 0800 hours (8:00AM).

SP/4 George F. Long, II, B Company, 7820th MP Battalion, 89th MP Group, 18th MP Brigade, Can Tho Detachment, August 1970 to August 1971.
SP/4 George F. Long
 
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