CONTROVERSY CONTINUES TO SURROUND KY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000100110140-7
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 21, 2011
• Sequence Number: 140
• Publication Date: February 15, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 2011/12/21 :CIA-RDP90-009658000100110140-7
WASHINGTON POST
15 February 1986
JACK ANDERSON and JOSEPH SPEAR
Controversy: Continues to Surround Ky
continuing controversy surrounds the reports
p that former South Vietnatttese premier
Nguyen Cao Ky has been involved with
Vietnatttese criminal gangs operating in this
country.
We reported in the past that law enforcement
officials had fingered Ky in a 1979 report as a
leader of underworld activity in the Vietnamese
contntunity. "l'he report was based on "raw"
intelligence, but police sources said the information
came from sources they trusted.
Ky has vehemently denied the charges, and solid
information linking hint to specific crimes has yet to
surface. In flct one former U.S. intelligence expert
blamed the allestations_~tbsatL~Y ~~~~ ~ rIPl~hc'ratP
disinformation cacn ai n b commums ~
tr~ng to c tscre tt y's opposition to the [fanoi
re iA me.
Nevertheless, accusations about Ky persist in
government circles. A recent internal Justice
Department strategic assessment, obtained by our
associates Corky Johnson and Donald Goldberg,
identifies Ky as a possible crime leader.
Uated last March 1, the report states: "One
individual who has been identified as a major figure
with Vietnamese organized crime (although he
denies it) is Nguyen Cao Ky. Ky lives in Huntington
Beach, Calif., and operates a liquor store. The
Vietnamese gangs are also allegedly headed by
former South Vietnam army generals and officers."
It is not clear whether the Justice Department
investigated Ky or sicttply relied on other sources.
One source might have been an unidentified
witctess who testified before the President's
Cortttttission on Organized Crime. The witness, who
said he had been a gang member, named Ky as a
leader of the Vietnamese underworld. He said Ky's
gangs used criminal activities to raise money for
anticontntunist efforts.
The witness' charges were not corroborated.
"Che recent Justice Department report charges
that Vietnamese gangs "are responsible for
murders, robberies and extortions, as well as I
trafficking in marijuana among Asian communities."
1'he report said such criminal activity by I
Vietnamese gangs has been detected in 13 states,
with most activity reported in areas having the
largest concentrations of Vietnamese refugees:
southern California, Houston, New Orleans and
Arlington, Va. Other areas identified were
Pennsylvania and [Ilinois. ~
"Che Vietnamese gangs' membership is tiny i
compared to other underworld organizations. "It is
estimated there are about 1,000 members
nationwide and that each gang in each city
functions under a statewide boss," the report said.
But they evidently try harder. At secret training
camps, gang members learn how to use weapons,
how to rob rival Chinese gangs' gambling
operations, how to extort money from local
merchants "and other crimes," according to the
Justice Department alert. "In Virginia, police
testified that Vietnamese gangs have been
responsible for arson, assault, murder and robbery
of other Vietnamese nationals."
Since we first reported two years ago on the
Vietnamese gang threat, no arrests have linked Ky
directly to the criminal activity.
Declassified and Approved For Release 2011/12/21 :CIA-RDP90-009658000100110140-7