Just like Myanmar, all the drug lord control the gov regardless under the junta or even democratic Aung San Suu Kyi....


Shadowy Drug Lord Wei Hsueh-kang’s Influence Still Felt in Myanmar’s Wa Region and Beyond




picture-State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi welcomes the United Wa State Army delegation to the National Reconciliation and Peace Centre in July 2018. / Myanmar News Agency


By Aung Zaw 9 March 2020

His Burmese name is U Sein Win, though he doesn’t speak Burmese. His primary language is Chinese—a colloquial, unpolished variety of the Yunnan dialect.

One of Southeast Asia’s most notorious drug lords, he has spent the past decade lying low somewhere along the Myanmar-China border. And he recently held a meeting with Myanmar officials in Kunming, China.

Wei Hsueh-kang (as he is more commonly referred to), now in his 70s, may be shadowy, but he is far from unknown to the powers that be in Myanmar and elsewhere in Southeast Asia. Speaking through an interpreter, the fugitive drug lord, who presides over a vast business empire, asked Myanmar peace officials in December to convey to State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi an invitation to visit Panghsang, the headquarters of the United Wa State Army (UWSA) in the Wa Self-Administered Zone in northern Shan State.

He also promised the Myanmar delegates that a peace deal could be agreed between the central government and the Wa leaders if the State Counselor accepted the invitation and visited the Wa region. Surprised to see him sitting in the room together with the other top Wa leaders, the Myanmar peace negotiators said his unexpected presence made for an awkward meeting, adding that his authority could clearly be felt in the room. They noticed that Bao Youyi, the No. 2 in the UWSA leadership, politely prepared a chair for Wei, a sign of his influence and status as a member of the UWSA’s politburo.



picture-The US State Department’s announcement in 2009 of a reward for information leading to Wei Hsueh-kang’s arrest.


The Wei brothers

Wei is the most prominent of three brothers. The eldest, Hsueh-long, is believed to have retired, leaving only Hsueh-kang and Hsueh-yin still active.

According to veteran journalist Bertil Lintner, who has written several books on Myanmar and the illicit trade in Shan State, the Wei brothers “were engaged in both espionage and opium trading.”

The Wei brothers were connected with the Kuomintang-CIA spy network along the Yunnan frontier until the Burmese communists drove them out in the 1970s, Lintner notes in his book “Burma In Revolt: Opium and Insurgency Since 1948.”

Wei Hsueh-kang subsequently joined the late drug lord Khun Sa’s Mong Tai Army (MTA), and apparently became treasurer to Khun Sa, who would later briefly detain Wei.

After being released by Khun Sa, Wei fled to Thailand and later traveled to Taiwan. In Thailand, after splitting with Khun Sa, he and his brothers set up a heroin empire along the Thai border with Myanmar and made a fortune. He was also allegedly involved in killing some of Khun Sa’s men in a revenge hit in northern Thailand.

In 1986, Wei was arrested and detained in Thailand. He was sentenced to death but managed to escape and never returned to the country. In Thai he is known as Prasit Chiwinnitipanya, but his Thai nationality was eventually revoked. Since 1993, the US has offered a US$2 million (2.7 billion kyats, at today’s rate) bounty for information leading to his capture or death, as a heroin trafficker.

In 1989, when the Wa rebels reached a ceasefire deal with the Myanmar junta, then known as the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), Wei returned to Panghsang. He bankrolled the Wa leadership, who at that time were cash-strapped and looking for assistance to rebuild the Wa region and their army, to the tune of several million dollars.

Indeed, Wei was one of the founders of the UWSA and became one of its most prominent politburo members. One seasoned observer described him as the Wa’s “ATM machine”.

At one time, Wei served as a commander in the UWSA and helped Myanmar troops to attack the stronghold of Khun Sa, who finally surrendered to the junta in 1996. Wei was allowed to take control of that MTA area.

In any case, the truce with the regime gave the Wa and other ethnic militias operating in the area, including Kokang insurgents, the opportunity to develop one of the largest drug-running operations in Southeast Asia.

The Myanmar military’s spy intelligence agency issued ID cards for Wa leaders but also provided protection for drug lords. “It is clear that the drug lords in the northeast are enjoying protection from the highest level of Burma’s military establishment, and not just from some corrupt local commanders,” Lintner wrote.


full article - https://www.irrawaddy.com/opinion/commentar...ion-beyond.html

This post has been edited by yongku: Jul 6 2021, 08:57 AM

And guess where these Asian drug lord launder their money??their money becomes legit in little red dot....


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Singapore accused of hypocrisy on drug stance
By Connie Levett and Rachel Kleinman
November 23, 2005 — 11.00am

https://www.theage.com.au/national/singapor...123-ge1als.html


SINGAPORE'S Government has been accused of hypocrisy in its pursuit of the death penalty against minor drug traffickers while retaining strong economic ties to Burma, a global heroin supplier.

Singapore is Burma's most important investor. Burma, under military control since 1988, is one of the world's biggest heroin sources. The drug accounts for more than half of the country's economy.

Singapore Democratic Party leader Chee Soon Juan said Singapore needed to focus on the Burmese drug lords not on drug "mules" if it was serious about keeping Singapore clean of drugs. "This Government keeps going on about having to take a tough stance on drugs and what a scourge illicit drugs are in our society. Fine, but go and get it at its source," Dr Chee said.

"What's the point of getting the mules? You know these drug lords are just going to find new people to get the drugs."

Dr Chee said Singapore's continuing policy of investing more than $US1 billion ($A1.35 billion) in government funds in Burma despite the regime's complicity in the opium trade was hypocritical. Burma is the biggest single provider of heroin to South-East Asia. "The Singapore Government has access to the Burmese military, it needs to ask them hard questions: what are you doing on the drug lords?" said Dr Chee, who opposes the death penalty.

Singapore has maintained a ruthless public position on drug traffickers and refused to reconsider the death sentence for Melbourne man Nguyen Tuong Van.

Bertil Linter, who has written extensively on Burma's drug trade, said Singapore was the first country to invest heavily in Burma when the regime reopened its borders to foreign investment in the 1990s.

"The main issue was the Traders Hotel, which was built by Asia World, a construction company owned by the Lo family — Lo Hsien Han and his son Steven Law, in conjunction with Singapore interests," Mr Linter said. Lo Hsien Han is widely recognised as one of the most powerful drug lords in Burma and was a frequent visitor to Singapore until recently. His son Steven Law, who has been barred from entering the US on suspicion of involvement in drug trafficking, has an office in Singapore.

The Singapore Government's joint venture with the drug lord came through the Myanmar Fund, set up to channel investment into Burma, which has since been shut down. Singapore's involvement was through its billion-dollar Government Investment Corporation.

Professor Desmond Ball, of the Australian National University's Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, said many Burmese drugs lords used Singapore for banking.

"Some of Burma's closest economic relations are with Singapore," Professor Ball said "A lot of electronic transaction services in Burma are run through Singapore."

Singapore Technologies, a quasi-government agency, also supplied a wide range of services to Burma's ruling junta. "Internet monitoring, telephone monitoring is done with Singaporean equipment and assistance and the cyber warfare office in Rangoon is built and maintained by Singaporeans," he said.

Professor Garry Rodan, from Murdoch University's Asia Research Centre, said the relationship appeared to be one purely of economic gain. "Over the years (the drug issue) has not bothered Singaporean investors a great deal," he said.

This post has been edited by yongku: Jul 6 2021, 09:30 AM

Thanks to the British, they learn the drug trade art from them...

This post has been edited by yongku: Jul 6 2021, 11:50 AM