The CIA's Secret Toy Factory in China

When it comes to the secret world of espionage, nothing is really off the table, but every once in a while a plot comes along that is so bold and crazy, that it's hard to believe it's actually real!

So how did the CIA come to operate a toy factory in China, and what exactly was their goal?

9/11, 2001

Two commercial airliners fly into the World Trade Center in New York, one attempts to crash into the Pentagon, and another one crashes into a field, after passengers fought back for control of the aircraft.

As we all know these planes were hijacked in a coordinated terrorist attack against the United States, by the Islamic terrorist group Al-Qaeda. About 3000 were killed and 6000 injured, in what would become the single deadliest terrorist attack in history.

A manhunt for Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden starts, who was already on the FBI's most wanted list at the time for the US embassy bombings in Nairobi. The US and eventually its coalition partners respond by launching the war on terror and invade Afghanistan. But as the conflict escalates many fighters escape to Pakistan where they continue to launch their attacks. The war was far from over.

Afghanistan, 2005

After years of conflict and devastation, the war in Afghanistan continues to rage on, and the CIA starts a program where gifts would be handed out to the children, in an effort to build goodwill.

These gifts included: pencils, notebooks, games, and toys, all put in a backpack for easy distribution, with blue for boys and pink for girls. And this was received well by most of the locals.

Despite being on the run for years, intelligence agencies were no closer to finding Osama Bin Laden, even though the bounty on his head had increased to 25 million, dead or alive! Bin Laden's ability to evade capture, likely emboldened Al-Qaeda fighters, and was a reminder of the group's enduring power and influence to the local population.

The CIA felt that they needed a different strategy, a more unconventional approach. But what they were planning, didn't really fit with their expertise, and so they decided to seek help from an unexpected source. This person turned out to be Donald Levine, a former Hasbro executive, and one of the greatest minds in the toy industry. The CIA wanted him to develop a new toy, although a very special toy. Levine who was hesitant at first agrees to help the CIA in their mission.

Guangdong, China

Levine had done business in the region for nearly 60 years, and had amassed a large network of contacts. Most of Hasbro's toys were manufactured in East Asia, with many factories being located in Guangdong. Through this the CIA now had the ability to discretely develop and manufacture their secret product, which would have been much harder to do in the US. Chinese artists and designers were also enlisted to ensure the project's success.

A few months later, a factory manager that had been part of the development team, met with CIA operatives in a Guangdong warehouse. With him he had the final product, and presented it for inspection. The agents were pleased, this was exactly what they had been expecting, in front of them was an Osama Bin Laden action figure.

The plan was for the toys to be send to the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, and be handed out to the children. The CIA already had the perfect cover in place, with their pre-existing goodwill program, and would slip the dolls into the backpacks.

But what could possibly be the point of all this, what was the CIA after?

The plan was for the children to play and have fun with the doll, and it would be all fun and games, up until the doll's face would start melting off. A demon face with red skin, green eyes, and black markings would gradually be revealed. This wasn't an ordinary doll, this was a toy specifically designed to induce fear and anxiety!

The doll's face had been painted with heat sensitive material that was designed to be peeled off over an extended period of time. The idea was that children and their parents would be seriously scared by this. They wanted to stop the locals from idolizing him, and prevent people from joining the group. The aim was for them to start seeing the real Bin Laden as a monster, and demonize him. Systematically over time public opinion would turn against Al-Qaeda.

The CIA hoped that this would lead directly or indirectly to the capture of Bin Laden, and the eventual downfall of Al-Qaeda. This secret psychological operation was code named Devil Eyes.

Although Levine and the CIA operatives were pleased with the final product, they still needed final approval to start mass production from CIA headquarters in Langley. But when a package arrived, with a funny looking doll inside, the CIA now under different management, couldn't really see the value in this project that had been pitched over a year ago.

Maybe the CIA had more actionable intel now, or maybe they were worried about costs or the political blow back that this could cause, who knows maybe they just thought it was too ridiculous! But whatever the reason the CIA decided to shut down the project.

According to some reports, the factory in Guangdong manufactured a few hundred dolls as part of a pre-production run in 2006. Supposedly they were even shipped out on a freighter to the Pakistani city of Karachi. If this is in fact true, this would mean there are hundreds of dolls out there in circulation. Officially the CIA claims that only three dolls exist, which are said to be different prototypes. Two of them were actually discovered in the basement of the Guangdong factory by Neil Levine, the son of Donald Levine. Those two were auctioned and sold to anonymous buyers.

The last doll still remains to this day at the CIA headquarters.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this story!