Burma is reputed to be the world’s second-largest producer of opium, after Afghanistan. Opium is used in the production of heroin.

There have been well-documented links of major drugs barons with the military rulers of Burma, and the regime stands accused of various forms of ‘laundering’ of drugs money. Khun Sa, who died in September 2007, was one such drugs baron. After a career in drug smuggling, he ‘surrendered’ to the Burmese government which failed to extradite him to the USA for his activities. He invested largely in property in Rangoon, Mandalay, etc.

However, the story conceals the tragedy of many lives. The upland people who grow the poppies in the ‘Golden Triangle’ area (where Burma meets Laos) have been forced out of their traditional livelihood, growing other crops such as tea, by the costs imposed by the Burmese government. High levels of addiction are reported among their own populations, reflecting the misery of their situation. The junta also allows mine owners in the infamous jade and ruby mines to pay the workers in drugs, creating a completely dependent work force. This has also led to a massive AIDS/HIV problem, from the injecting of heroin. (See The Stone of Heaven by Adrian Levy & Cathy Scott Clark, 2002). It is believed that the cultivation of poppies began in Burma after the Second World War, when Kuomintang troops were driven out of China by Mao Tse Tung’s forces, and settled in the area.

As well as opium, Burma produces large amounts of methamphetamines, known as ‘Yaba’ in Thailand. Smuggling these pills is also highly profitable and the junta is similarly implicated in money laundering on this count.