Who Is The Drug King of the Golden Triangle?
Khun Sa -
Opium Warlord of the
World
A profile of Khun Sa, the region's most powerful and autocratic drug warlord and his 20,000-strong army.
March 1994
The American Drug Enforcement Agency says Khun Sa's army protects his drug interests, but Khun Sa says it's to continue his fight against the
Burmese. He proclaimed independence for his
Shan land from
Burma in
1993. Ho
Mong, Khun Sa's headquarters, is the size of a small city. A thousand new army recruits, all children,
parade through a maze of well planned roads, houses, schools, temples and hospitals. The soldiers, often just nine years old, are press-ganged into service - many will never see their homes again. If they run away one of their family is executed. In
1977 Khun Sa promised to stop the opium trade in exchange for independe
...