Not really, when are you going to join it?
https://www.warhistoryonline.com/vi...d-for-everything-including-drugsmuggling.html
The United States has lots of airlines: American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines, etc. One airline most people have not heard of is Air America. It has a rich history. Air America was not the usual type of airline. It was a covert operation run by the CIA. It delivered items, goods, people, whatever was necessary to places the United States military could not go to for varying reasons, whether because of a treaty, or something else.
Formation
The airline has a complicated beginning. It got underway in 1950, with a company named Airdale, which was created by the CIA. Airdale then formed another company, CAT, Inc. They then purchased a 40% interest in another company, Civil Air Transport. This company was owned by Chinese investors who retained a 60% interest.
Later in the 1950s, Airdale changed its name to The Pacific Corporation, and also changed CAT, Inc. to Air America.
Planes and Services
Air America provided many services for the CIA, one of which was delivering cargo to areas including Vietnam and China. The airline operated bases in various countries like Japan and Taiwan, allowing it to fly to these areas with ease.
Its headquarters were in Washington, D.C., and its maintenance facility in Arizona. The airline operated various types of planes such as the C-130, DHC-4 Caribou, Curtiss-C46 Commando and the Douglas DC-6. They also used helicopters including the Bell 47, Bell 204B, Bell 205, Hughes 500D and the Sikorsky H-34. Often, these aircraft were marked as civilian transporters allowing them to enter zones they would not normally be able to do.
Drug Running Allegations
In an interesting twist, the CIA has been accused of using the airline for smuggling heroin out of northern Laos. They claim they were working to help a group of people in Laos, who were fighting against rebels. The group depended on the heroin for their livelihoods. At one point, the rebel forces captured the area these people used for their planes carrying the drugs. Air America came to their rescue.
Critics argue the CIA and the Federal Government may have profited from the drug smuggling, so turned a blind eye to what the Laos military were doing with the drugs.
