Binh Xuyen was a Vietnamese anti-communist organized crime syndicate which existed from 1945 to 1960, dominating Saigon immediately after South Vietnamese independence. Led by Le Van Vien, Binh Xuyen was backed by the French, who supported the Binh Xuyen due to their opposition to Ngo Dinh Diem, the pro-US but anti-France leader of South Vietnam. In 1955, in the Battle of Saigon, the South Vietnamese government cracked down on the Binh Xuyen, and Diem regained control of Saigon. Binh Xuyen's army disbanded and its vice operations collapsed, and it dissolved in 1960.