Hong Kong, the drug capital of southeast Asia for the last century.
The Heroin Wars - The Kings of Opium
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- 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.]
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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
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and the flood of narcotics
has sowed 10 times over.
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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]
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[sil.]
00:01:55.000 --> 00:01:59.999
Like waves in a see of rock,
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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.
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But during the 1990s, there was
(inaudible) on every mountain
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and the army was visibly alert.
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The watchers look bored
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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.]
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The Shans were resisting the
Burmese military junta (inaudible)
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in 1962. They abolished
parliament in the constitution
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and in 1988 floated thousands of
demonstrators protesting for democracy.
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Recently Shan State has provided the
main resistance to the dictatorship.
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And south of the River Salween, there
is an area completely liberated
00:03:05.000 --> 00:03:09.999
by the Shan army.
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In the 1960s, the guerillas (inaudible)
little more than shoot up Burmese patrols.
00:03:15.000 --> 00:03:23.000
[sil.]
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The guerilla bands then were
only a few hundred strong.
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[non-English narration]
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In the 1970s, the Shan armies (inaudible)
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were fighting for the opium trade.
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[sil.]
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And most guerilla armies
(inaudible) numbered a thousand.
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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.]
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Yet the Shans had never
fought a major battle.
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So is their
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commander Khun Sa a revolutionary
or is he a drug baron.
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He is the Enigma of this film.
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[sil.]
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The American Drug
Enforcement Administration,
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the DEA has so demonized Khun Sa that it’s
hard to separate the Hollywood villain
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from the political figure.
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[sil.]
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[non-English narration]
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I don’t care what you guys
want, I want three tons now.
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[non-English narration]
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Perhaps he’s right, but the
caricature does pose a question.
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[non-English narration]
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If we scratch the revolutionary,
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will we find this? that’s
the brittle of our film.
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Through an interpreter,
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I asked if he enjoyed
being a Hollywood demon.
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[sil.]
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[non-English narration]
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Khun Sa says that one day opium will be
replaced by the billions of dollars of gems
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coming every year out of Shan minds.
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Shan rubies are the best in the world.
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[sil.]
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But the Shans now produced
two-thirds of the world’s heroin.
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So we showed Khun Sa an article
in which an English mother
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accused him of killing her addict daughter.
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[non-English narration]
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Since 1977…
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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.
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They want to liberate Shan State…
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and opium and Shan politics…
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are intertwined. Given
the Shans independence…
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and we’ll do away with opium
without one cent of outside help.
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The people will do it, even
if they have to eat roots.
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They are many cases like Shirley
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and her daughter died in this incident…
If opium means a bargain with the devil
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then Khun Sa does not like
to be reminded of it.
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Khun Sa is a criminal. The Shan United
Army, and I use that in quotes,
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is a criminal organization.
They’re responsible for poisoning
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tens of thousands of people…
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When you look out on the universe of… of the major
trafficking organizations throughout the world,
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he fits in there right up in the top five.
His organization alone accounts
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for 60-70 percent of the heroin
that’s in the United States.
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Khun Sa was doubling his capacity, his
ability to produce heroin every 10 years.
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The amounts that were
coming out were staggering.
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The United States has formally indicted
Khun Sa and claims he is using politics
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to traffic in narcotics. Yet if you watch
Khun Sa appears to be a revolutionary
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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
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in order to control the world’s
largest source of heroin.
00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:38.000
[non-English narration]
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That’s the puzzle. Where on earth
does Khun Sa think he’s going?
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[sil.]
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And also came at an assembly elected by
representatives from all over Shan State.
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The peoples representative committee…
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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,
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the 1947 constitution was adopted.
On the 2nd of March 1962,
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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:
Closed Captioning: Available
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