Gambling Operations - Can Tho

        Most of the gambling took place in bars, however unlike a normal bar, the gambling was the main means of profit. The most popular form of gambling was Craps, a game designed to take the money of a large group of people in a short amount of time. We generally had no more problems with the gambling locations than we did with other businesses. The most common problem were fights when Americans decided that they had been cheated. If possible a Combined Patrol would handle these complaints, as unlike a bar where a GI was normally complaining about a bar girl, the owners were generally involved in complaints at gambling establishments.

        The real underlying problem with gambling in Can Tho was that the great amount of money collected allowed the owners to branch out into the drug business. The drug business was an ever-expanding enterprise that ultimately lead to the big drug crack down in 1971. Not all drugs were controlled by the gambling operations but most were.

        Not surprisingly there was a form of drug use in Can Tho that no one normally bothered with. There were at least two opium dens in Can Tho. They were the stereotypical Asian drug house full of opium addicts who spent their lives addicted. The only time most American MPs went to these places was when they were working a combined patrol. They were off limits to Americans, everything was off limits unless we had given the business an 'On Limits' sign, but every now and then we would find an American here.

If we had too many problems at any business in Can Tho we merely took away their 'On Limits' sign and arrested any American's entering the place. So while we had no direct authority over any Vietnamese business any American entering a business that was not posted as 'On Limits' could be arrested. This action of course separated the business from their customer/income base and most Vietnamese businessmen and women were more than happy to comply with our wishes.

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.