Office of the Historian

190. Memorandum From Director of Central Intelligence Helms to the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger)1 2

Washington, May 28, 1971.

SUBJECT:

  • Blue Chit Narcotics Reports [less than 1 line not declassified]
1.
Our recently intensified collection effort designed to acquire further information on the overseas distribution and processing of narcotics has begun to bear fruit. Reports on narcotics traffic, however, are likely to be politically as well as operationally sensitive, especially in the Indochina area. We have therefore set up a special system designed to ensure that certain Indochina narcotics reports come to the personal attention of concerned senior U.S. officials and, at the same time, ensure that the distribution of these reports is tightly controlled and limited to a small number of individually identified recipients. All such reports will be sent to their recipients under a blue transmittal slip over my name and signature, all will also be labeled as [less than 1 line not declassified] reports and their individual numbers will have the prefix [less than 1 line not declassified]
2.
As with the somewhat analogous [less than 1 line not declassified] series used for sensitive Indochina reports of a more general nature, Indochina area narcotics reports will be handled in this special fashion when either (or both) of two considerations apply: (1) The report in question contains information or allegations of particular political sensitivity, and/or (2) the report is sufficiently illuminating or informative to warrant the personal attention of the senior U.S. officials directly concerned with the overall problem.
3.
The first report in this new series is appended hereto. It reflects the format, numbering and mode of transmittal that will be employed in future narcotic traffic reports selected for inclusion and handling in this channel.
Richard Helms
Director
[Page 3]

Attachment

[5 pages not declassified]

  1. Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 358, Subject Files, Narcotics IV. Secret; Sensitive. Copies were sent to Rogers, Laird, Mitchell, Moorer, Sullivan, Ingersoll, and Rossides. The attachment is Secret; No Foreign Dissem; Controlled Dissem Abroad; Background Use Only.↩
  2. Helms sent Kissinger information on how the CIA planned to distribute sensitive intelligence on narcotics in Southeast Asia.↩