Lo Hsing-Han, Khun Sa and the beginning of the war on drugs in Burma.
The Heroin Wars - The Kings of Opium
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- Citation
- Cataloging
- Transcript
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The final program in the series 'The Heroin Wars' returns to the Shans' war for independence, led by Khun Sa, the second 'King of Opium'. In 1993 the Shan People's Representative Committee declared itself no longer part of the union of Burma and the civil war moved to a new plane of brutality that shocked the world. Lo Hsing-Han meanwhile joined the government forces and eventually brings Khun Sa to his knees, regaining control once again over the narcotics trade, but this time for the military dictatorship. 
Today both men are rich and powerful, and the amount of opium produced in Shan State has increased tenfold, flooding Europe and the United States with cheap heroin. In spite of massive US aid, no one has been brave enough to break the vicious circle that is the international drugs trade. The narcotics carousel will continue to turn, to the immense profit of everyone on board and to the intense suffering of the addicts and the Shan people.
'Proving, again, that truth is far more intriguing than fiction, The Heroin Wars is documentary film making at its finest, a superb and skillfully told story which ultimately reveals that as long as there are supplies, and drug addicts, there will always be a drug trade. Highly recommended for purchase.' Gerald A. Notaro, University Librarian, University of South Florida MC Journal
'Essential viewing for anyone interested in the history of the narcotics trade and the war on drugs; highly recommended for academic libraries and world history collections.' Library Journal
Citation
Main credits
								Cowell, Adrian (cmm)
Cowell, Adrian (Director)
Kirk, Michael (Producer)
							
Other credits
Camera, Ned Johnston; editor, Terry Twigg.
Distributor subjects
Asian Studies; Burma; Developing World; Drugs; History; Hong Kong; Human Rights; Humanities; International Studies; Political Science; Social JusticeKeywords
WEBVTT
 
 00:00:05.000 --> 00:00:09.999
 [sil.]
 
 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:14.999
 Two-thirds of the world’s heroin
 starts its long journey here
 
 00:00:15.000 --> 00:00:19.999
 in the remote Shan state of Burma.
 
 00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:24.999
 For the 20 years, I watched these opium conveys,
 the war against that has been a total failure.
 
 00:00:25.000 --> 00:00:29.999
 [sil.]
 
 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:34.999
 Despite 80 million dollars in US AID and Aircraft,
 no convey has ever been stopped or captured
 
 00:00:35.000 --> 00:00:39.999
 and the flood of narcotics
 has sowed 10 times over.
 
 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:44.999
 We now return to see if the war on
 drugs can do any better in 1990s.
 
 00:00:45.000 --> 00:00:50.000
 [music]
 
 00:00:55.000 --> 00:01:03.000
 [music]
 
 00:01:15.000 --> 00:01:23.000
 [music]
 
 00:01:35.000 --> 00:01:43.000
 [music]
 
 00:01:50.000 --> 00:01:54.999
 [sil.]
 
 00:01:55.000 --> 00:01:59.999
 Like waves in a see of rock,
 
 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:04.999
 the Shan mountains of eastern Burma
 seem capable of deterring any invader.
 
 00:02:05.000 --> 00:02:09.999
 [sil.]
 
 00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:14.999
 When I was here 20 years ago, the Shan
 guerillas rarely posted a sentry.
 
 00:02:15.000 --> 00:02:19.999
 But during the 1990s, there was
 (inaudible) on every mountain
 
 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:24.999
 and the army was visibly alert.
 
 00:02:25.000 --> 00:02:29.999
 The watchers look bored
 
 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:34.999
 but the Hill Forts of (inaudible) Shan State was soon to
 see some of the bloodiest fighting of the 30-year war.
 
 00:02:35.000 --> 00:02:39.999
 [sil.]
 
 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:44.999
 The Shans were resisting the
 Burmese military junta (inaudible)
 
 00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:49.999
 in 1962. They abolished
 parliament in the constitution
 
 00:02:50.000 --> 00:02:54.999
 and in 1988 floated thousands of
 demonstrators protesting for democracy.
 
 00:02:55.000 --> 00:02:59.999
 Recently Shan State has provided the
 main resistance to the dictatorship.
 
 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:04.999
 And south of the River Salween, there
 is an area completely liberated
 
 00:03:05.000 --> 00:03:09.999
 by the Shan army.
 
 00:03:10.000 --> 00:03:14.999
 In the 1960s, the guerillas (inaudible)
 little more than shoot up Burmese patrols.
 
 00:03:15.000 --> 00:03:23.000
 [sil.]
 
 00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:34.999
 The guerilla bands then were
 only a few hundred strong.
 
 00:03:35.000 --> 00:03:39.999
 [non-English narration]
 
 00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:44.999
 In the 1970s, the Shan armies (inaudible)
 
 00:03:45.000 --> 00:03:49.999
 were fighting for the opium trade.
 
 00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:54.999
 [sil.]
 
 00:03:55.000 --> 00:03:59.999
 And most guerilla armies
 (inaudible) numbered a thousand.
 
 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:04.999
 But by 1992, the Shan training school was
 turning out over a 4000 recruits a year.
 
 00:04:05.000 --> 00:04:13.000
 [sil.]
 
 00:04:15.000 --> 00:04:19.999
 Yet the Shans had never
 fought a major battle.
 
 00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:24.999
 So is their
 
 00:04:25.000 --> 00:04:29.999
 commander Khun Sa a revolutionary
 or is he a drug baron.
 
 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:34.999
 He is the Enigma of this film.
 
 00:04:35.000 --> 00:04:39.999
 [sil.]
 
 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:44.999
 The American Drug
 Enforcement Administration,
 
 00:04:45.000 --> 00:04:49.999
 the DEA has so demonized Khun Sa that it’s
 hard to separate the Hollywood villain
 
 00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:54.999
 from the political figure.
 
 00:04:55.000 --> 00:05:03.000
 [sil.]
 
 00:05:05.000 --> 00:05:13.000
 [non-English narration]
 
 00:05:25.000 --> 00:05:29.999
 I don’t care what you guys
 want, I want three tons now.
 
 00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:35.000
 [non-English narration]
 
 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:44.999
 Perhaps he’s right, but the
 caricature does pose a question.
 
 00:05:45.000 --> 00:05:49.999
 [non-English narration]
 
 00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:54.999
 If we scratch the revolutionary,
 
 00:05:55.000 --> 00:05:59.999
 will we find this? that’s
 the brittle of our film.
 
 00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:04.999
 Through an interpreter,
 
 00:06:05.000 --> 00:06:10.000
 I asked if he enjoyed
 being a Hollywood demon.
 
 00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:48.000
 [sil.]
 
 00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:04.999
 [non-English narration]
 
 00:07:05.000 --> 00:07:09.999
 Khun Sa says that one day opium will be
 replaced by the billions of dollars of gems
 
 00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:14.999
 coming every year out of Shan minds.
 
 00:07:15.000 --> 00:07:19.999
 Shan rubies are the best in the world.
 
 00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:24.999
 [sil.]
 
 00:07:25.000 --> 00:07:29.999
 But the Shans now produced
 two-thirds of the world’s heroin.
 
 00:07:30.000 --> 00:07:34.999
 So we showed Khun Sa an article
 in which an English mother
 
 00:07:35.000 --> 00:07:39.999
 accused him of killing her addict daughter.
 
 00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:45.000
 [non-English narration]
 
 00:08:05.000 --> 00:08:09.999
 Since 1977…
 
 00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:14.999
 But as the interpreter translated, we could
 see that Khun Sa could not take his eyes
 
 00:08:15.000 --> 00:08:19.999
 of the article as if it had
 really got under his skin.
 
 00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:24.999
 Then he brought it up again. You
 can see our men carry rifles.
 
 00:08:25.000 --> 00:08:29.999
 They want to liberate Shan State…
 
 00:08:30.000 --> 00:08:34.999
 and opium and Shan politics…
 
 00:08:35.000 --> 00:08:39.999
 are intertwined. Given
 the Shans independence…
 
 00:08:40.000 --> 00:08:44.999
 and we’ll do away with opium
 without one cent of outside help.
 
 00:08:45.000 --> 00:08:49.999
 The people will do it, even
 if they have to eat roots.
 
 00:08:50.000 --> 00:08:54.999
 They are many cases like Shirley
 
 00:08:55.000 --> 00:08:59.999
 and her daughter died in this incident…
 If opium means a bargain with the devil
 
 00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:04.999
 then Khun Sa does not like
 to be reminded of it.
 
 00:09:05.000 --> 00:09:09.999
 Khun Sa is a criminal. The Shan United
 Army, and I use that in quotes,
 
 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:14.999
 is a criminal organization.
 They’re responsible for poisoning
 
 00:09:15.000 --> 00:09:19.999
 tens of thousands of people…
 
 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:24.999
 When you look out on the universe of… of the major
 trafficking organizations throughout the world,
 
 00:09:25.000 --> 00:09:29.999
 he fits in there right up in the top five.
 His organization alone accounts
 
 00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:34.999
 for 60-70 percent of the heroin
 that’s in the United States.
 
 00:09:35.000 --> 00:09:39.999
 Khun Sa was doubling his capacity, his
 ability to produce heroin every 10 years.
 
 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:44.999
 The amounts that were
 coming out were staggering.
 
 00:09:45.000 --> 00:09:49.999
 The United States has formally indicted
 Khun Sa and claims he is using politics
 
 00:09:50.000 --> 00:09:54.999
 to traffic in narcotics. Yet if you watch
 Khun Sa appears to be a revolutionary
 
 00:09:55.000 --> 00:09:59.999
 using opium to support his army.
 
 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:05.000
 [non-English narration]
 
 00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:24.999
 But there is no way approving
 he is not play acting
 
 00:10:25.000 --> 00:10:29.999
 in order to control the world’s
 largest source of heroin.
 
 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:38.000
 [non-English narration]
 
 00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:49.999
 That’s the puzzle. Where on earth
 does Khun Sa think he’s going?
 
 00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:58.000
 [sil.]
 
 00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:04.999
 And also came at an assembly elected by
 representatives from all over Shan State.
 
 00:11:05.000 --> 00:11:09.999
 The peoples representative committee…
 
 00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:14.999
 the peoples representative assembly Shan State. Declaration,
 the Union of Burma was born from the agreements
 
 00:11:15.000 --> 00:11:19.999
 reached in the (inaudible) confirms in 1947
 
 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:24.999
 widely known as final
 agreement on which guidance,
 
 00:11:25.000 --> 00:11:29.999
 the 1947 constitution was adopted.
 On the 2nd of March 1962,
 
 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:34.999
 the Burmese Army led by general navy
 over through the union government
 
 00:11:35.000 --> 00:11:39.999
 seized power and abrogated
 the 1947 constitution.
 
 00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:44.999
 Since this constitution was the
 bound, that bound the union together,
 
 00:11:45.000 --> 00:11:49.999
 the abrogation of it actually
 meant the end of the Union.
 
 00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:54.999
 Since then, Shan State has
 become separate entity
 
 00:11:55.000 --> 00:11:59.999
 and therefore, has no more legal
 religion with Burma power.
 
 00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:04.999
 Since then the road into Shan State
 
 00:12:05.000 --> 00:12:09.999
 has been full of marching men.
 
 00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:18.000
 [music]
 
 00:12:25.000 --> 00:12:29.999
 As I crossed into the guerrilla
 region with cameramen Ned Johnston,
 
 00:12:30.000 --> 00:12:34.999
 the first of the opium harvest
 was coming the other way.
 
 00:12:35.000 --> 00:12:39.999
 [sil.]
 
 00:12:40.000 --> 00:12:44.999
 The traders
 
 00:12:45.000 --> 00:12:49.999
 brought in 25 viss of opiates, raw opiates
 
 00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:55.000
 and we tax a 100 kyatts for a viss.
 
 00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:04.999
 It’s partial… partially, I couldn’t mention
 
 00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:10.000
 the… the right figure, but I
 think it’s only partially.
 
 00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:19.999
 I presume they have the buyers
 somewhere in the jungles.
 
 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:24.999
 I don’t know sir.
 
 00:13:25.000 --> 00:13:29.999
 As the opium moved on
 towards the factories,
 
 00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:34.999
 our column traveled towards
 the fields and the war,
 
 00:13:35.000 --> 00:13:39.999
 into the opium mountains
 
 00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:44.999
 regularly raided by the Burmese army.
 
 00:13:45.000 --> 00:13:50.000
 [music]
 
 00:13:55.000 --> 00:13:59.999
 [music]
 
 00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:08.000
 [sil.]
 
 00:14:25.000 --> 00:14:29.999
 Huge fields of poppies were everywhere
 
 00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:34.999
 and we were surprised by
 the density of the crop
 
 00:14:35.000 --> 00:14:39.999
 and how every spare patch of
 land was devoted to opium.
 
 00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:44.999
 [sil.]
 
 00:14:45.000 --> 00:14:49.999
 Most families were growing twice
 as much, some fives times as much,
 
 00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:54.999
 as the amounts I recorded in the 1970s.
 
 00:14:55.000 --> 00:15:03.000
 [music]
 
 00:15:05.000 --> 00:15:09.999
 It’s the festival of the opium harvest.
 
 00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:14.999
 [music]
 
 00:15:15.000 --> 00:15:19.999
 It was during a previous festival
 
 00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:28.000
 that the Burmese attacked.
 
 00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:49.999
 In village after village,
 
 00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:55.000
 we learned that Burmese plundering had made
 it impossible to survive without opium.
 
 00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:08.000
 [sil.]
 
 00:16:30.000 --> 00:16:34.999
 [non-English narration]
 
 00:16:35.000 --> 00:16:43.000
 [sil.]
 
 00:16:45.000 --> 00:16:49.999
 Opium in the field
 
 00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:54.999
 is too laborious for a Burmese
 soldier to harvest on his own
 
 00:16:55.000 --> 00:16:59.999
 and once out of the field is a such a
 small packet that it’s easy to hide,
 
 00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:04.999
 unlike rice or cattle.
 
 00:17:05.000 --> 00:17:09.999
 So opium is the only crop
 
 00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:14.999
 the Burmese cannot loot.
 So far as I could see
 
 00:17:15.000 --> 00:17:19.999
 it is the Shan families only
 insurance against starvation.
 
 00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:28.000
 [music]
 
 00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:34.999
 The white sap of the Yunan poppy bleeds
 
 00:17:35.000 --> 00:17:39.999
 in ever increasing quantities,
 driven by ever increasing looting
 
 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:44.999
 and brutality against these
 ever more desperate people.
 
 00:17:45.000 --> 00:17:49.999
 [music]
 
 00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:54.999
 This party of villagers had just escaped
 
 00:17:55.000 --> 00:17:59.999
 after being forced to act as supporters for the
 Burmese army carrying the ammunition into battle
 
 00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:04.999
 then as human shields driven in
 front through the minefields.
 
 00:18:05.000 --> 00:18:13.000
 [non-English narration]
 
 00:18:55.000 --> 00:18:59.999
 Endless reports by amnesty and Asia watch
 
 00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:04.999
 condemn the Burmese army for forcing villagers
 to serve as supporters, human shields,
 
 00:19:05.000 --> 00:19:09.999
 human minesweepers for rape, torture,
 and murder regularly condemn
 
 00:19:10.000 --> 00:19:14.999
 by the United Nations.
 
 00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:19.999
 The violations of human rights in (inaudible) remain extremely serious.
 I’m gravely concerned at the continued reports of fourth porterage,
 
 00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:24.999
 fourth labor, fourth relocation, arbitrary
 
 00:19:25.000 --> 00:19:29.999
 killings, beatings, rapes, and confiscation
 of property by the army soldiers,
 
 00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:34.999
 which are most commonly occurring
 in the border areas where the…
 
 00:19:35.000 --> 00:19:39.999
 All this would soon lead to a clash between
 the human rights and the narcotics policies
 
 00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:44.999
 of the United States.
 
 00:19:45.000 --> 00:19:49.999
 In Washington, the State Department and the
 DEA were fighting there own war of drugs.
 
 00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:54.999
 The State Department’s position is that
 
 00:19:55.000 --> 00:19:59.999
 \"no we are not prepared to reopen it
 bilateral assistance program on narcotics.\"
 
 00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:04.999
 First of all, because of
 the human rights problems
 
 00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:09.999
 in Burma that were all well aware of and
 secondly because of the narcotic situation
 
 00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:14.999
 where we are not convinced that the
 government of Burma (inaudible)
 
 00:20:15.000 --> 00:20:19.999
 regime is really taking serious steps
 
 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:24.999
 to deal with the opium production
 and heroin refining situation
 
 00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:29.999
 even within the limits of their ability to
 do so. We think that the accommodations
 
 00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:34.999
 that it’s reached with a number
 of the major trafficking groups
 
 00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:39.999
 put in the profound question,
 it’s kind of narcotics policy.
 
 00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:44.999
 It’s time to increase certain
 types of a particularly training,
 
 00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:49.999
 anti-drug training for law enforcement
 personal, some assistance
 
 00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:54.999
 in the development of a… of a criminal justice
 system and a respect for legal process etc.
 
 00:20:55.000 --> 00:20:59.999
 Anything that can have an impact
 to reduce or hopefully eliminate
 
 00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:04.999
 that production of opium in that
 part of world is beneficial.
 
 00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:09.999
 In Washington the debate of
 whether to attack the Shans
 
 00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:14.999
 or negotiate with them has
 been going on for 25 years.
 
 00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:19.999
 But if all the possibilities
 had been shuffled and cut,
 
 00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:24.999
 it would have needed a profit to guess that the next
 American to come traveling into the Shan mountains
 
 00:21:25.000 --> 00:21:29.999
 would be the (inaudible) of
 president Carter and Peter Bourne.
 
 00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:34.999
 Welcome to the home of Mr. Bourne.
 
 00:21:35.000 --> 00:21:39.999
 Welcome to the home of Mr. Bourne. Welcome to the home of Mr. Bourne.
 Welcome to the home of Mr. Bourne. Welcome to the home of Mr. Bourne.
 
 00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:44.999
 Bourne had rejected negotiations
 with Khun Sa 20 years before,
 
 00:21:45.000 --> 00:21:49.999
 but now had come to believe that the Shans
 were genuinely fighting for independence.
 
 00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:54.999
 Welcome to the home of Mr. Bourne.
 
 00:21:55.000 --> 00:21:59.999
 As the US policy maker
 on drugs in the 1970,
 
 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:04.999
 Bourne had given the Burmese
 plains to attack Khun Sa.
 
 00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:13.000
 [non-English narration]
 
 00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:23.000
 [music]
 
 00:22:45.000 --> 00:22:49.999
 At a pose in the celebrations, we asked
 Bourne why he changed his position?
 
 00:22:50.000 --> 00:22:54.999
 Well, I think this is a very propitious time to come.
 The atmosphere in the world is quite different
 
 00:22:55.000 --> 00:22:59.999
 from what it is being in previous years and I
 think there is a willingness in the United States
 
 00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:04.999
 and elsewhere to look at the drug issue
 on a completely different basis.,
 
 00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:09.999
 I think who sow it is now clear that
 what is happening here in the Shan State
 
 00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:14.999
 is a truly legitimate independence movement
 
 00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:19.999
 in which the drug issue is really a very subsidiary part of it.
 So you think it’s more possible to negotiate now (inaudible).
 
 00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:25.000
 In front of me more so, yes.
 
 00:23:35.000 --> 00:23:40.000
 It’s a passing out party of the Shan Training
 School when Khun Sa encourages his recruits.
 
 00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:19.999
 This school had trained a 11000 recruits
 
 00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:24.999
 since we first filmed it 14 months before.
 
 00:24:25.000 --> 00:24:29.999
 [sil.]
 
 00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:34.999
 This part of Shan State is free because the
 Burmese are unable to cross the Salween Gorge.
 
 00:24:35.000 --> 00:24:39.999
 But in 1994, the Burmese built
 a bridgehead from the east
 
 00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:44.999
 to attack the liberated part of Shan
 State without crossing the river.
 
 00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:49.999
 [sil.]
 
 00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:58.000
 [music]
 
 00:25:05.000 --> 00:25:09.999
 Soon after, a large Shan Column was sent
 off to attack the Burmese bridgehead
 
 00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:14.999
 and it began to look as if military action
 might soon clarify enigma of Khun Sa.
 
 00:25:15.000 --> 00:25:19.999
 [sil.]
 
 00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:24.999
 Could he be planning to refute the DEA and his other
 critics by becoming the savior of his country?
 
 00:25:25.000 --> 00:25:30.000
 [sil.]
 
 00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:44.999
 The target of the Shan attack
 was the valley of Mong Kyawt.
 
 00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:49.999
 Khun Sa
 
 00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:54.999
 seemed confident talking of
 capturing towns in the future.
 
 00:25:55.000 --> 00:25:59.999
 In a matter of 5 days, if
 (inaudible) surrender?
 
 00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:04.999
 [non-English narration]
 
 00:26:05.000 --> 00:26:09.999
 We will take the (inaudible) there the Burmese
 troop cannot stay in the (inaudible) to surrender.
 
 00:26:10.000 --> 00:26:14.999
 [non-English narration]
 
 00:26:15.000 --> 00:26:19.999
 There would be a lot of demolishing
 around the (inaudible) land.
 
 00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:24.999
 Major Yot Serk was to command the
 assault and pointed out the location
 
 00:26:25.000 --> 00:26:29.999
 of the first Burmese fort.
 
 00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:38.000
 [non-English narration]
 
 00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:49.999
 That evening the clouds built up and the Shans
 attacked in heavy rain during the night.
 
 00:26:50.000 --> 00:26:54.999
 [sil.]
 
 00:26:55.000 --> 00:26:59.999
 Next day the Shan soldiers
 at the fort of Mahin Gong
 
 00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:04.999
 looked relieved but drained by the attack.
 
 00:27:05.000 --> 00:27:10.000
 [non-English narration]
 
 00:27:15.000 --> 00:27:19.999
 This position had been held
 
 00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:24.999
 by about 40 Burmese and the most have
 escaped many was still in the trenches.
 
 00:27:25.000 --> 00:27:33.000
 [sil.]
 
 00:27:55.000 --> 00:27:59.999
 [non-English narration]
 
 00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:04.999
 These all are records, we
 catch it from the Burmese
 
 00:28:05.000 --> 00:28:09.999
 and due to all these arms and ammunitions
 and other things (inaudible)
 
 00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:15.000
 [sil.]
 
 00:28:35.000 --> 00:28:39.999
 [sil.]
 
 00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:44.999
 Ten Shans have been killed and the
 wounded were waiting to be carried out
 
 00:28:45.000 --> 00:28:49.999
 before the expected counter attack.
 
 00:28:50.000 --> 00:28:58.000
 [sil.]
 
 00:29:05.000 --> 00:29:09.999
 Next morning, the Shans were driving three
 Burmese regimens out of the valley (inaudible),
 
 00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:14.999
 but in the fourth fort on top of the
 range everything looked peaceful.
 
 00:29:15.000 --> 00:29:19.999
 [sil.]
 
 00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:24.999
 It looked as though Khun
 Sa was truly launched
 
 00:29:25.000 --> 00:29:29.999
 on the long struggle for independence.
 
 00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:34.999
 But within a month, the Burmese
 recaptured this valley and in Bangkok,
 
 00:29:35.000 --> 00:29:39.999
 the old debate was revived about whether
 Khun Sa was a drug load or freedom fighter
 
 00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:44.999
 when ten Shans were taken to court.
 
 00:29:45.000 --> 00:29:49.999
 These individuals
 
 00:29:50.000 --> 00:29:54.999
 were all associated with a drug trafficking
 organization controlled by Khun Sa,
 
 00:29:55.000 --> 00:29:59.999
 have been taken into custody
 by Thai authorities,
 
 00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:05.000
 we hope they can be extradited to
 stay and travel United States.
 
 00:30:35.000 --> 00:30:39.999
 Because of the arrests, I asked Khun Sa,
 
 00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:44.999
 who definitely does not like discussing
 the subject, if he sent heroin to the US.
 
 00:30:45.000 --> 00:30:53.000
 The DEA says you earned shares
 in several heroin factories.
 
 00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:15.000
 How much is the MTA tax
 on opium and heroin?
 
 00:31:25.000 --> 00:31:29.999
 [music]
 
 00:31:30.000 --> 00:31:34.999
 The Burmese then initiated a press campaign
 
 00:31:35.000 --> 00:31:39.999
 about swapping Khun Sa for US Aid.
 
 00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:44.999
 Going after Khun Sa is important.
 
 00:31:45.000 --> 00:31:49.999
 Khun Sa is a world-wide criminal
 
 00:31:50.000 --> 00:31:54.999
 and he has created through the Shan United Army
 a major drug trafficking criminal organization
 
 00:31:55.000 --> 00:31:59.999
 that needs to be eliminated.
 
 00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:04.999
 So far however, what we have seen in
 terms of the Burmese armies actions,
 
 00:32:05.000 --> 00:32:09.999
 really has involved more
 concurring territory
 
 00:32:10.000 --> 00:32:14.999
 rather than going after drug trafficking.
 
 00:32:15.000 --> 00:32:19.999
 [music]
 
 00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:24.999
 But the press had no doubts.
 
 00:32:25.000 --> 00:32:29.999
 [music]
 
 00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:38.000
 [sil.]
 
 00:32:55.000 --> 00:32:59.999
 Despite the headlines, the Shan out post held
 off what were only minor attacks in the east
 
 00:33:00.000 --> 00:33:05.000
 and the Shans retaliated against the
 Burmese board of time of Tachileik.
 
 00:33:10.000 --> 00:33:14.999
 They’re firing at the Burmese to the left.
 
 00:33:15.000 --> 00:33:19.999
 [sil.]
 
 00:33:20.000 --> 00:33:24.999
 Shan traces pass over these Burmese
 
 00:33:25.000 --> 00:33:29.999
 and this Shan fires a grenade at him.
 
 00:33:30.000 --> 00:33:34.999
 [sil.]
 
 00:33:35.000 --> 00:33:39.999
 During 1995, the Shans
 held their own in the war,
 
 00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:44.999
 but they would soon be brought
 to their knees by narcotics.
 
 00:33:45.000 --> 00:33:49.999
 In Rangoon the Burmese generals had for
 some years been keeping another card
 
 00:33:50.000 --> 00:33:54.999
 up their uniformed sleeves.
 
 00:33:55.000 --> 00:33:59.999
 The chief of military intelligence
 General Khin Nyunt had a concealed joker
 
 00:34:00.000 --> 00:34:04.999
 in a form of our old friend,
 the first king of opium.
 
 00:34:05.000 --> 00:34:09.999
 In the early 1970s, Lo Hsing-han dominated
 
 00:34:10.000 --> 00:34:14.999
 the Shan opium business and was the
 first Shan leader to sign proposals
 
 00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:19.999
 to stop the growing of opium.
 
 00:34:20.000 --> 00:34:24.999
 This however gave the DEA the chance to have
 him arrested by loading him into a helicopter
 
 00:34:25.000 --> 00:34:29.999
 with an invitation to negotiate.
 
 00:34:30.000 --> 00:34:34.999
 When I waved goodbye to him,
 
 00:34:35.000 --> 00:34:39.999
 he was on his way to be sentenced to death.
 
 00:34:40.000 --> 00:34:44.999
 Incredibly, he is free today,
 lives in this house in Rangoon
 
 00:34:45.000 --> 00:34:49.999
 and I asked the question that
 I thought I never would.
 
 00:34:50.000 --> 00:34:54.999
 A 20 years ago, when you had hundreds of your soldiers
 around you, why did you enter the helicopter of Thai police.
 
 00:34:55.000 --> 00:35:00.000
 [non-English narration]
 
 00:35:30.000 --> 00:35:34.999
 We have heard that the DEA bribed $1
 million to arrest you, is that true?
 
 00:35:35.000 --> 00:35:43.000
 [non-English narration]
 
 00:35:55.000 --> 00:36:00.000
 [non-English narration]
 
 00:36:10.000 --> 00:36:14.999
 [non-English narration]
 
 00:36:15.000 --> 00:36:19.999
 In Insein jail, Lo-Hsing-han’s death
 sentence was reduced to eight years.
 
 00:36:20.000 --> 00:36:24.999
 When he was released on the orders of his
 future patron, the chief of intelligence,
 
 00:36:25.000 --> 00:36:29.999
 General Khin Nyunt.
 
 00:36:30.000 --> 00:36:34.999
 On his behalf, Lo Hsing-han went
 back to his home region of Kokang.
 
 00:36:35.000 --> 00:36:39.999
 There he negotiated a
 ceasefire between the Burmese
 
 00:36:40.000 --> 00:36:44.999
 and the leader of Kokang’s
 communist militia.
 
 00:36:45.000 --> 00:36:49.999
 The deal Lo Hsing-han broken was Kokang’s unrestricted
 right to manufacture and distribute it’s heroin.
 
 00:36:50.000 --> 00:36:54.999
 Lo Hsing-han and his organization
 
 00:36:55.000 --> 00:36:59.999
 including the (inaudible) the military side
 of his organization which he is a part,
 
 00:37:00.000 --> 00:37:04.999
 they control a vast area of land and
 therefore a lot of primary production
 
 00:37:05.000 --> 00:37:09.999
 by actually dictate how much opium will be
 cultivated by (inaudible) minorities in that area
 
 00:37:10.000 --> 00:37:14.999
 and they also control a
 wide range of refineries.
 
 00:37:15.000 --> 00:37:19.999
 The Burmese went on helping Lo Hsing-han
 
 00:37:20.000 --> 00:37:24.999
 become a sort of godfather to the traffickers in the
 principal opium-growing regions of the war and Kokang.
 
 00:37:25.000 --> 00:37:29.999
 For the more his groups
 controlled the narcotics traffic,
 
 00:37:30.000 --> 00:37:34.999
 the more Lo Hsing-han was able to undercut
 economically the enemy the Burmese
 
 00:37:35.000 --> 00:37:39.999
 could not defeat militarily Khun Sa.
 
 00:37:40.000 --> 00:37:44.999
 This economic stranglehold produced
 increasing strain at Khun Sa’s capital
 
 00:37:45.000 --> 00:37:49.999
 until he announce that the thousands of
 his troops had mutinied in the north.
 
 00:37:50.000 --> 00:37:54.999
 The mutineers blamed the armies domination
 
 00:37:55.000 --> 00:37:59.999
 by a (inaudible) Chinese
 Shans like Khun Sa.
 
 00:38:00.000 --> 00:38:04.999
 [non-English narration]
 
 00:38:05.000 --> 00:38:09.999
 When senior officers became critical of
 Khun Sa, fearing a landslide of desertions,
 
 00:38:10.000 --> 00:38:14.999
 he surprised and challenged the Shan
 assembly with a speech of resignation.
 
 00:38:15.000 --> 00:38:23.000
 With an ironic laugh
 
 00:38:40.000 --> 00:38:45.000
 and after decades in power, the king of
 opium resigned his executive offices.
 
 00:38:50.000 --> 00:38:54.999
 [sil.]
 
 00:38:55.000 --> 00:38:59.999
 The assembly then proclaimed
 an executive committee
 
 00:39:00.000 --> 00:39:04.999
 to take over Khun Sa’s executive duties
 
 00:39:05.000 --> 00:39:09.999
 and a widely politician began plotting
 
 00:39:10.000 --> 00:39:14.999
 to protect themselves.
 
 00:39:15.000 --> 00:39:19.999
 For some months, it was not clear what
 was weighing on his ending magic mind.
 
 00:39:20.000 --> 00:39:24.999
 For instance,
 
 00:39:25.000 --> 00:39:29.999
 was the freedom fighter
 reverting to this a drug load.
 
 00:39:30.000 --> 00:39:34.999
 [sil.]
 
 00:39:35.000 --> 00:39:39.999
 [non-English narration]
 
 00:39:40.000 --> 00:39:44.999
 At the Shan new year Khun Sa formerly
 handed back to the monks and the people,
 
 00:39:45.000 --> 00:39:49.999
 all his remaining public officers.
 At the same time,
 
 00:39:50.000 --> 00:39:54.999
 he sent secret emissaries to the Burmese government and
 warned his troops of a time of great sorrow ahead.
 
 00:39:55.000 --> 00:40:03.000
 But about half his troops
 
 00:40:30.000 --> 00:40:34.999
 could not bear to surrender to
 their bitter enemies the Burmese
 
 00:40:35.000 --> 00:40:39.999
 and left the fight on including
 the top field commando.
 
 00:40:40.000 --> 00:40:44.999
 At the beginning of January,
 
 00:40:45.000 --> 00:40:49.999
 the remaining soldiers have
 massively brought in their arms.
 
 00:40:50.000 --> 00:40:58.000
 [sil.]
 
 00:41:10.000 --> 00:41:14.999
 Even their price SAM-7
 anti-aircraft missiles.
 
 00:41:15.000 --> 00:41:19.999
 Grimly, the troops assembled
 for a ceremony to be filmed
 
 00:41:20.000 --> 00:41:25.000
 by the Burmese government which ended
 all hope of Shan independence.
 
 00:41:30.000 --> 00:41:34.999
 Altogether 12,000 surrendered.
 
 00:41:35.000 --> 00:41:39.999
 [sil.]
 
 00:41:40.000 --> 00:41:44.999
 After decades unable to enter this area,
 
 00:41:45.000 --> 00:41:49.999
 the Burmese just walked in
 to a traditional welcome.
 
 00:41:50.000 --> 00:41:58.000
 [music]
 
 00:42:00.000 --> 00:42:04.999
 Somberly, Khun Sa waited to
 greet the Burmese general.
 
 00:42:05.000 --> 00:42:09.999
 The general had promised him amnesty
 
 00:42:10.000 --> 00:42:14.999
 and to cease blockading his trade
 routes for narcotics and other goods.
 
 00:42:15.000 --> 00:42:19.999
 [sil.]
 
 00:42:20.000 --> 00:42:24.999
 Without a shot fired, Burmese
 troops dominated Khun Sa’s capital.
 
 00:42:25.000 --> 00:42:33.000
 [sil.]
 
 00:42:40.000 --> 00:42:44.999
 He proposed Khun Sa’s army should become a
 pro-government militia, like the Kokang and Wa militias,
 
 00:42:45.000 --> 00:42:49.999
 which control most of Burma’s narcotics.
 
 00:42:50.000 --> 00:42:54.999
 Thus, by abandoning Shan independence, Khun
 Sa secured his share of the narcotics traffic
 
 00:42:55.000 --> 00:42:59.999
 and possibly a comfortable retirement.
 
 00:43:00.000 --> 00:43:04.999
 Given the criminal notoriety of Khun Sa and
 his organization’s extensive involvement
 
 00:43:05.000 --> 00:43:09.999
 in the international heroin trade, we are concerned
 that this apparent political agreement could facilitate
 
 00:43:10.000 --> 00:43:14.999
 the continued drug-trafficking
 operations of the Shan United Army.
 
 00:43:15.000 --> 00:43:19.999
 And as you know, this supplies a very large amount
 of the heroin consumed in the United States.
 
 00:43:20.000 --> 00:43:24.999
 So we are calling on the Burmese government to
 turn Khun Sa over to United States authorities.
 
 00:43:25.000 --> 00:43:29.999
 Because he is a drug lord, he should be prosecuted
 in a United States court on narcotics charges.
 
 00:43:30.000 --> 00:43:38.000
 [music]
 
 00:43:45.000 --> 00:43:49.999
 We’d love to get our hands on Khun Sa.
 
 00:43:50.000 --> 00:43:54.999
 And he needs to go to jail. He’s a
 crook, he’s a liar and he’s a killer
 
 00:43:55.000 --> 00:43:59.999
 and he’s caused the death
 of thousands of people
 
 00:44:00.000 --> 00:44:04.999
 in the United States over a 30-year period.
 Rather than put him in a mansion in Rangoon,
 
 00:44:05.000 --> 00:44:09.999
 we have a little room for him in
 the eastern district in Brooklyn
 
 00:44:10.000 --> 00:44:14.999
 waiting for him. It’s got his name on it.
 
 00:44:15.000 --> 00:44:19.999
 If all this resolves the enigma of Khun Sa,
 it does little to solve the opium problem.
 
 00:44:20.000 --> 00:44:24.999
 And Khun Sa was his cryptic
 self when I suggested the DEA
 
 00:44:25.000 --> 00:44:30.000
 was chasing him around in circles,
 like the music box on his table.
 
 00:45:10.000 --> 00:45:14.999
 The war on drugs is a ceaseless merry-go-round,
 as the history of the kings of opium reveals
 
 00:45:15.000 --> 00:45:19.999
 over and over again.
 
 00:45:20.000 --> 00:45:24.999
 For in Rangoon, the first opium came
 
 00:45:25.000 --> 00:45:29.999
 is now expanding his many
 businesses to include a 500 room,
 
 00:45:30.000 --> 00:45:34.999
 23 floor hotel.
 
 00:45:35.000 --> 00:45:39.999
 It’s nearly ready.
 
 00:45:40.000 --> 00:45:44.999
 As one of the richest man
 
 00:45:45.000 --> 00:45:49.999
 in the Burma earning the Asia world
 company Lo Hsing-han has the courage
 
 00:45:50.000 --> 00:45:54.999
 perhaps full hardiness to try once
 more to negotiate an end to opium
 
 00:45:55.000 --> 00:46:00.000
 [non-English narration]
 
 00:46:15.000 --> 00:46:19.999
 Do you have sufficient authority to
 be able to end the opium business.
 
 00:46:20.000 --> 00:46:28.000
 [non-English narration]
 
 00:46:35.000 --> 00:46:40.000
 If it… find you a negotiating or gained by opium, are
 you worried that they will try to arrest you again.
 
 00:46:50.000 --> 00:46:54.999
 Lo Hsing-han’s offer is
 to help foreign agencies
 
 00:46:55.000 --> 00:46:59.999
 replace opium with other crops in Kokang
 
 00:47:00.000 --> 00:47:04.999
 but the United States were always certainly
 reject it as it rejected Khun Sa’s proposals
 
 00:47:05.000 --> 00:47:09.999
 to the US Congress.
 
 00:47:10.000 --> 00:47:14.999
 Excuse me, I spoke to the Khun
 Sa’s representative yesterday
 
 00:47:15.000 --> 00:47:19.999
 and he said as usual that
 Khun Sa would be willing to…
 
 00:47:20.000 --> 00:47:24.999
 to stop growing poppies
 if US can help them fight
 
 00:47:25.000 --> 00:47:29.999
 the Rangoon government. So what is your point
 of you tonight? We don’t deal with criminals.
 
 00:47:30.000 --> 00:47:34.999
 [sil.]
 
 00:47:35.000 --> 00:47:39.999
 Okay. The best thing Khun
 Sa could do would be
 
 00:47:40.000 --> 00:47:44.999
 to turn himself over to American Justice and
 if he is indeed truthful and really believes
 
 00:47:45.000 --> 00:47:49.999
 what he says, we would welcome his appearance
 before court of law in the United States
 
 00:47:50.000 --> 00:47:54.999
 to explain his position.
 And the effectible list
 
 00:47:55.000 --> 00:47:59.999
 on the massive floor of
 narcotics, sadly no.
 
 00:48:00.000 --> 00:48:04.999
 So unless Lo Hsing-han or someone like him breaks
 the wishes circle the narcotic (inaudible)
 
 00:48:05.000 --> 00:48:09.999
 will continue as it has for 20 years.
 
 00:48:10.000 --> 00:48:14.999
 The generals could still swap Khun Sa
 
 00:48:15.000 --> 00:48:19.999
 for Aid from the Americans
 
 00:48:20.000 --> 00:48:24.999
 thus publicizing the DEA as
 the slayer of the drug demon.
 
 00:48:25.000 --> 00:48:29.999
 Or might Khun Sa drive off the Burmese
 
 00:48:30.000 --> 00:48:34.999
 enabling him to de-demonize himself
 by wiping out the opium crop
 
 00:48:35.000 --> 00:48:39.999
 or could the narcotic merry-go-round
 yet again just continue it play
 
 00:48:40.000 --> 00:48:44.999
 to the immense profit of everyone on
 board and to the intense suffering
 
 00:48:45.000 --> 00:48:49.999
 of the addicts and the Shan people.
 Only time will tell.
 
 00:48:50.000 --> 00:48:58.000
 [music]
 
 00:49:15.000 --> 00:49:19.999
 Stopping opium would be a great
 pleasure for me. I’m not afraid
 
 00:49:20.000 --> 00:49:24.999
 that DEA will catch me because
 what I’m doing is right.
 
 00:49:25.000 --> 00:49:33.000
 [music]
 
 00:49:35.000 --> 00:49:39.999
 We don’t deal with criminals.
 
 00:49:40.000 --> 00:49:44.999
 The best thing Khun Sa could do would be
 to turn himself over to American Justice.
 
 00:49:45.000 --> 00:49:53.000
 [music]
 
 00:50:10.000 --> 00:50:18.000
 [sil.]
Distributor: Bullfrog Films
Length: 50 minutes
Date: 1996
Genre: Expository
Language: English; Burmese
Grade: College, Adult
		Color/BW: 
		 
	
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