1 October When the 720th MP Battalion mobilized for duty in the Republic of South Vietnam at Fort Hood, Texas their TO&E strength was 21 officers, 4 warrant officers, and 567 enlisted personnel - including the seven-man Criminal Investigation Division (CID) cell.

        The CID cell consisted of four warrant officer CID agents, Ed Black, Gideon Epstein, Aaron Miller, and Romeo Garcia. There were also two enlisted agents, SP/7 John Baker and SP/6 Charles 'Chuck' Weatherington, and a clerk, SP/5 Thornton.

        The other units stationed at the Bien Hoa Office were the 173rd Airborne Brigade (separate), 87th Military Police CID Detachment, 252nd Military Police CID Detachment. The CID Detachment was commanded by CWO Henry Nishakawa.

        The unit was billeted in a two story building just outside the Bien Hoa Air Base main gate across the street from an Australian Hospital.

        The CID units primary jurisdiction was within the III Corps area however, they did have country-wide jurisdiction and responsibility to enforce the military laws involving personnel of all U.S. military branches and Allied Forces, except in the case of crimes committed within the confines of Air Force bases, Navy bases (including ships), and Allied forces’ compounds.

        A drug task force was organized by Garcia and Epstein, and in the first month of operation they opened ninety narcotics cases. They were also responsible for organizing and conducting the first massive joint U.S. Military and Vietnamese civilian narcotics raid in the Republic of Vietnam.

        The operation was planned with the cooperation and assistance of U.S. Aid Customs Advisor to Vietnamese Customs because under Vietnamese law (1966) possession and use of marijuana was not a criminal offense. The Vietnamese officials agreed to prosecute Vietnamese citizens under their law prescribing criminal penalties for transportation of opium.

        The target of the raid were two Vietnamese bars in which undercover purchases of drugs were made from two major suspects. Aerial photographs of the two establishments were taken by helicopter and the plan for simultaneous raids at each bar were finalized.

        Using the aerial photographs at the pre-raid briefing the assisting MP’s and CID agents were given their assignments. The raiding party consisted of a company of 720th MP’s, two commissioned officers to call the raids, and approximately twenty-five CID agents from other units throughout Vietnam. Off duty MP’s that worked Bien Hoa town patrol unit were used as a standby reaction force during the raid. Detainees from apprehensions at the raid sites were transported to the Bien Hoa MP Station in 2-1/2 ton trucks.

        Approximately eighty-five members of the U.S. Military were apprehended and brought in and charged with marijuana possession violations. The U.S. Aid Customs Advisor and Vietnamese National Police (Canh Sat) arrested the dealers, as well as the owners and employees at the two bars. The latter were charged with black marketing, mainly of illegal liquor obtained from the U.S. Military.

        The CID agents also changed the standard operating procedures at the existing Bien Hoa CID unit. Upon their arrival they were informed by the officer-in-charge (OIC) that the unit did not respond to nighttime calls. They soon changed that to become the first CID agents within the III Corps to answer nighttime calls.