Golden Triangle

Production[edit]
Myanmar is the world's second largest producer of illicit opium, after Afghanistan[1] and has been a
significant cog in the transnational drug trade since World War II.[2][3]According to the UNODC it is
estimated that in 2005 there wr 167 square miles (430 km2) of opium cultivation in Myanmar.[4]
The surrender of drug warlord Khun Sa's Mong Tai Army in January 1996 was hailed by Yangon as a
major counter-narcotics success. Lack of government will and agility to take on
major narcotrafficking groups and lack of serious commitment against money laundering continues
to hinder the overall anti-drug effort. Most of the tribespeople growing the opium poppy in Myanmar
and in the Thai highlands are living below the poverty line.
In 1996, the United States Embassy in Rangoon released a "Country Commercial Guide", which
states "Exports of opiates alone appear to be worth about as much as all legal exports." It goes on to
say that investments in infrastructure and hotels are coming from major opiate-growing and opiateexporting organizations and from those with close ties to these organizations. [5]
A four-year investigation concluded that Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) was "the main
channel for laundering the revenues of heroin produced and exported under the control of
the Myanmar army." In a business deal signed with the French oil giant Total in 1992, and later
joined by Unocal, MOGE received a payment of $15 million. "Despite the fact that MOGE has no
assets besides the limited installments of its foreign partners and makes no profit, and that the
Myanmar state never had the capacity to allocate any currency credit to MOGE, the Singapore bank
accounts of this company have seen the transfer of hundreds of millions of US dollars," reports
Franois Casanier. According to a confidential MOGE file reviewed by the investigators, funds
exceeding $60 million and originating from Myanmar's most renowned drug lord, Khun Sa, were
channeled through the company. "Drug money is irrigating every economic activity in Myanmar, and
big foreign partners are also seen by the SLORC as big shields for money laundering."[5] Banks in
Rangoon offered money laundering for a 40% commission. [6]
The main player in the country's drug market is the United Wa State Army, ethnic fighters who
control areas along the country's eastern border with Thailand, part of the infamous Golden Triangle.
The UWSA, an ally of Myanmar's ruling military junta, was once the militant arm of the Beijingbacked Burmese Communist Party.
Poppy cultivation in the country decreased more than 80 percent from 1998 to 2006 following an
eradication campaign in the Golden Triangle. Officials with the United Nations Office of Drugs and
Crime say opium poppy farming is now expanding. The number of hectares used to grow the crops
increased 29% in 2007. A United Nations report cites corruption, poverty and a lack of government
control as causes for the jump.[7]

Trafficking[edit]

Harvested poppy capsules.

Opium and heroin base produced in northeastern Myanmar are transported by horse
and donkey caravans to refineries along the ThailandBurma border for conversion to heroin and
heroin base. Most of the finished products are shipped across the border into various towns in North
Thailand and down to Bangkok for further distribution to international markets.
In the past major Thai Chinese and Burmese Chinese traffickers in Bangkok have controlled much of
the foreign sales and movement of Southeast Asian heroin from Thailand, but a combination of law
enforcement pressure, publicity and a regional drought has significantly reduced their role. As a
consequence, many less-predominant traffickers in Bangkok and other parts of Thailand now control
smaller quantities of the heroin going to international markets.
Heroin from Southeast Asia is most frequently brought to the United States by couriers, typically Thai
and U.S. nationals, travelling on commercial airlines. California and Hawaii are the primary U.S.
entry points for Golden Triangle heroin, but small percentages of the drug are trafficked into New
York City and Washington, D.C. While Southeast Asian groups have had success in trafficking heroin
to the United States, they initially had difficulty arranging street level distribution. However, with the
incarceration of Asian traffickers in American prisons during the 1970s, contacts between Asian and
American prisoners developed. These contacts have allowed Southeast Asian traffickers access to
gangs and organizations distributing heroin at the retail level.[8]
In recent years, the production has shifted to Yaba and other forms of methamphetamine, including
for export to the United States.
The Chinese Muslim Panthay are the same ethnic group as the Muslims among the Chinese Chin
Haw.[9] Both are descendants of Chinese Hui Muslim immigrants from Yunnan province in China.
They often work with each other in the Golden Triangle Drug Trade. Both Chinese Muslim and nonMuslim Jeen Haw and Panthay are known to be members of Triad secret societies, working with
other Chinese groups in Thailand like the TeoChiew and Hakka and the 14K Triad. They engaged in
the heroin trade. Ma Hseuh-fu, from Yunnan province, was one of the most prominent Jeen Haw
heroin drug lords. His other professions included trading in tea and a hotelier.[10]
A Panthay from Burma, Ma Zhengwen, assisted the Han Chinese drug lord Khun Sa in selling his
heroin in north Thailand.[11] The Panthay monopolized opium trafficking in Burma.[12] They also created
secret drug routes to reach the international market with contacts to smuggle drugs from Burma via
south China.[13]