Narcotopia (Hardback)
In Search of the Asian Drug Cartel that Outwitted the CIA
Patrick Winn
Award-winning journalist – and author of Hello, Shadowlands – Patrick Winn reveals the inside story of a forbidden republic – the narco-state of the Wa.
The jagged mountains dividing China and Burma belong to the Wa, an indigenous group who have outwitted the CIA to create the world's mightiest narco-state, controlling more territory than Israel and with more troops than Sweden. Are they crime lords? Or visionaries?
Wa State has become a real nation with its own highways, anthems, schools and flags. Its leaders promise freedom, using profits from trafficking heroin and meth to attain what China's other frontier peoples, Tibetans and Uyghurs, can only dream of: a state of their own. Patrick Winn embarks on a risky journey of discovery, chasing clues about the forbidden republic from Thailand to Burma to the secretive Wa State itself.
Patrick Winn is an investigative journalist who covers rebellion and black markets in Southeast Asia. He has received a National Press Club award and is also a three-time winner of Amnesty International's Human Rights Press Awards. He is currently Asia correspondent for The World, broadcast on NPR member stations, and is the author of Hello, Shadowlands.
Those who fail to read this forsake their chance to know the truthRoberto Saviano
An outstanding book packed with history, humour, and adventure. America's struggle to thwart them Winn is the perfect guide to these highland outlaws and their incredible, defiant narcostate. This is the best reportage to come out of Southeast Asia in years.Graeme Wood, author of The Way of Strangers
A riveting portrait of a little-known and often vilified people; a harrowing tale of Asia's epic, multibillion-dollar drugs trade.Thant Myint-U, author The Hidden History of Burma
Winn has made a riveting read out of the largely overlooked- but critically important- Wa State …. The history behind it, the masterminds pulling the strings, and the many CIA operations against them. It's a fascinating and incredibly well-researched dive into Asia's underworld and some of the greatest narcotics traffickers in the region. And above all, it's beautifully crafted storytelling.Isobel Yeung
Unputdownable …. An authentic page-turner revealing why the global drug problem remains unsolved.Khuensai Jaiyen, former secretary to drug lord Khun Sa
Part gangster saga, part espionage thriller, and part liberation epic, Winn's narrative alternates between rollicking adventure and harrowing violence conveyed in vivid, muscular prose.Publishers Weekly
At times, Narcotopia reads like a satire from the mind of Joseph Heller … Winn tells this complex story with admirable clarity and a healthy dose of humour, and has drawn on a huge range of CIA and DEA documents, 'some declassified, others acquired by creative means'.The Daily Telegraph
Narcotopia does the foreign correspondent's job par excellence: it explains an unknown corner of the world and reminds us of the incredible stories that exist beyond our limited western horizons.The Times Literary Supplement
