Team Sone Pet

Laotian General Ouane Rattikone had contacts with the military establishment of the Republic of China. In conjunction with the Nationalist Chinese, Ouane decided to exploit these links for military intelligence purposes. In late 1967, with the cooperation of the Central Intelligence Agency a reconnaissance team of eight local espionage agents was recruited to spy on the Chinese communists. While the Team Sone Pet leader was a Royal Lao Army officer, the seven members were from General Khoumouane Boupha's troops in Phongsaly Province. This team was hired by the CIA and paradropped into extreme northern Laos in familiar territory very near the Chinese communist border. Once landed near Malitao, they spied undetected for over two months before bumping into a communist patrol. They were then exfiltrated by a Royal Lao Air Force H-34 helicopter.^[4]

Following this, during 1968 Ouane allowed a Nationalist Chinese intelligence team (name unknown) to set up in Ban Khwan, Laos,^[4] the battlefield of the July 1967 Opium War.^[5][6] Also during Spring 1968, the Diamond Arrow operation was repeated in Phongsaly, using a team of Nationalist Chinese imported from Taiwan. Shortly after this second team landed in the same locality as the first, they lost radio contact with their handlers and vanished.^[4]