Khun Sa

Khun Sa was a Shan insurgent leader and opium trafficker who commanded the Mong Tai Army in Myanmar’s Golden Triangle.

Mong Tai Army: A Shan armed organization led by Khun Sa that fought Myanmar’s military government and operated in the Golden Triangle. This was the army he commanded during his insurgency.
Opium production in Myanmar: The cultivation of opium poppies in Myanmar for processing into opium and heroin. Opium production supplied the commodity at the center of Khun Sa’s trafficking network.
Shan State: A state in eastern Myanmar, bordering China, Laos, and Thailand, with a large Shan population. Khun Sa’s insurgency and territorial base developed in and around this borderland.
1996 surrender of Khun Sa: Khun Sa’s 1996 agreement with Myanmar’s government that ended his armed insurgency. The surrender dissolved his military role without producing his extradition to the United States.
Lo Hsing-han: A Kokang-born Burmese drug trafficker and militia leader active in the Golden Triangle. A rival trafficker whose relationship with Khun Sa combined competition and shifting political alignments.
Golden Triangle: A border region of Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand historically associated with opium cultivation and trafficking. Its remote borders and competing authorities enabled the trade and insurgencies Khun Sa exploited.
Kengtung: A town in eastern Shan State, Myanmar, and the historic center of Kengtung State. Khun Sa was born in the Kengtung area in 1934.
Drug trafficking in Myanmar: The production and movement of illicit drugs through Myanmar by armed groups and criminal networks. Khun Sa became the most internationally prominent figure in a trade that persisted after his exit.
Ne Win: A Burmese military officer who ruled Myanmar from 1962 to 1988. His government’s counterinsurgency policies formed part of the political landscape Khun Sa navigated.
Heroin: An opioid drug synthesized from morphine, commonly derived from opium poppies. Khun Sa’s network trafficked heroin as well as opium.

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