Lo Hsing Han
罗星汉
Born(1935-09-25)25 September 1935[1]
Kokang, Burma[2]
Died6 July 2013(2013-07-06) (aged 77)[note 1]
Yangon, Myanmar
Other namesLaw Sit Han (လော်စစ်ဟန်)
Occupation(s)Businessman, drug trafficker
Known forMajor Southeast Asian drug lord, Entrepreneur of Asia World
Criminal chargeDrug trafficking (1973)[3]
Criminal penaltyDeath, commuted to life imprisonment[3]
Criminal statusCommuted (1980)[3]
SpouseZhang Xiaowan (张小菀)[4]
ChildrenSteven Law & 7 more
FamilyLo Hsing-min (brother)[3]

Lo Hsing Han or Law Sit Han (Burmese: လော်စစ်ဟန်, IPA: [lɔ̀ sɪʔ hàɰ̃]; traditional Chinese: 羅星漢; simplified Chinese: 罗星汉; pinyin: Luó Xīnghàn; c. 1930s – July 6, 2013) was a Burmese businessman and drug trafficker. He later became a major business tycoon across Burma, with financial ties to Singapore. He was an ethnic Kokang-Chinese.[5] His spouse, Zhang Xiaowen, is a Chinese citizen and native of Gengma County in Yunnan.[4]

Rise and fall

Lo Hsing Han was born poor in Kokang district.[6] He reportedly started his opium-trafficking career as chief of a local militia called Ka Kwe Ye (KKY)[7] set up with the encouragement of General Ne Win to fight the Communists.[8] By the early 1970s, he was an important figure in the Asian drug trade, particularly in the trafficking of "China white" heroin.[9] In August 1973, he was arrested in Thailand and handed over to Myanmar.[10] He was sentenced to death for treason on the grounds of his brief association with the insurgent Shan State Army (SSA). He was released in the 1980 during a General Amnesty.[8]

Comeback

When the Kokang and Wa insurgent troops mutinied and toppled the Communist leadership in 1989, military intelligence chief Khin Nyunt found in Lo a useful intermediary in quickly arranging cease-fire agreements and, in return, Lo was given lucrative business opportunities and unofficial permission to run drugs with impunity along with the mutineers. He wasted no time in rebuilding the drug empire he lost 15 years ago to Khun Sa, a rival KKY chief of Loi Maw. No fewer than 17 new heroin refineries were located within a year in Kokang State and adjacent areas.[8]

Business career

In June 1992, he founded the Asia World Company, allegedly as a front for his drug operations. His son, Steven Law (aka Tun Myint Naing), married to Cecilia Ng of Singapore in 1996, runs the company which won many multimillion-dollar contracts in the construction and energy sectors.[8][11] In the wake of Cyclone Nargis, in February 2008, the US government included Lo, his son, and daughter-in-law, along with the 10 companies they control in Singapore, in its targeted sanctions list of the military junta's business cronies.[12]

According to a report in The Observer, he helped organize and finance the opulent 2006 wedding of the daughter of the Myanmar dictator Than Shwe.[13] A video was leaked onto the internet, showing a well-fed Thandar Shwe, perspiring under the weight of diamond-encrusted necklaces and hairbands and swathed in yards of silk as plump junta members sat on gold-trimmed chairs in front of a five-tiered wedding cake and champagne.

Asia World Company is involved in a number of big projects such as a Sino-Myanmar oil and gas pipeline project, a deep sea port at Kyaukpyu, the controversial Myitsone hydro-power plant and the Tasang hydro-power plant. Companies of the Chinese government have investments in all of them. Steven Law accompanied Thein Sein during his first official foreign visit to China after inauguration as a civilian president.[14]

Death

Lo, heroin king and business tycoon, died on 6 July 2013, in Yangon, Myanmar.[15] He was 80[note 1] and is survived by his wife, four sons, four daughters and 16 grandchildren, leaving them behind with a vast sum of wealth.[16][17] In the secretive world of Myanmar's elite, the extent of Lo's wealth is not known. In an interview, a man often described as the richest person in Myanmar, U Tay Za, said the Lo family surpassed him in wealth.

Lo and his son, Steven Law, were two of the military's most important business partners and were awarded contracts to build roads, provincial seaports and other large infrastructure projects.

Notes

  1. 1 2 The Irrawaddy Magazine gives 25 September 1935 as his birth date, and if so, he died at the age of 77 (or 78 per traditional Myanma age counting). But the obituary announcement by the family in local newspapers Myanmar Alin and Kyemon mentions that he died at the age of 80.

References

  1. ↑ Weng, Lawi (17 July 2013). "A Funeral for 'the Godfather of Heroin'". The Irrawaddy. Retrieved 17 July 2013.
  2. ↑ Seng, Naw (February 2004). "Brothers-In-Peace". The Irrawaddy. Archived from the original on 3 March 2011. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Booth, Martin (25 May 1999). Opium: A History. Macmillan. pp. 298–300. ISBN 9780312206673.
  4. 1 2 赖骏. 悄然隐退的女毒王杨二小姐. 北京市禁毒委员会 (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2 July 2009. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
  5. ↑ Davis, Anthony; Hawke, Bruce (January 23, 1997). "Business is Blooming". Asiaweek. Vol. 24, no. 3. Archived from the original on 18 February 2019 – via Singapore Window.
  6. ↑ Lo Hsing Han, heroin king and business tycoon, died on July 6th, aged about 80 Economist
  7. ↑ Ka Kwe Ye means "defence" in Burmese, and is used as the name for regional defence forces. Smith, Martin (1991) Burma - Insurgency and the Politics of Ethnicity Zed Books, London, p. 221
  8. 1 2 3 4 Bertil Lintner (March 2000). "The Golden Triangle Opium Trade: An Overview" (PDF). Asia Pacific Media Services. Retrieved 2009-01-06.
  9. ↑ Sweeney, John (7 April 2001). "How junta protects Mr Heroin". The Observer. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  10. ↑ Aye Aye Win (8 July 2013). "Man Dubbed 'Godfather of Heroin' Dies in Burma". The Irrawaddy. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  11. ↑ "Tracking the Tycoons". The Irrawaddy. September 2008. Archived from the original on 2010-09-20. Retrieved 2009-01-10.
  12. ↑ Wai Moe. "More Junta Cronies Hit By US Sanctions". The Irrawaddy, February 26, 2008. Archived from the original on February 27, 2008. Retrieved 2009-01-10.
  13. ↑ Peter Beaumont and Alex Duval Smith (October 11, 2007). "Drugs and astrology: how 'Bulldog' wields power". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2007-10-11.
  14. ↑ "Steven Law's Rising Empire". Archived from the original on 2012-03-19. Retrieved 2014-01-07.
  15. ↑ Calderon, Justin (8 July 2013). "Myanmar's 'Godfather of Heroin' dies, bounty on successor". Inside Investor. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  16. ↑ "Man Dubbed 'Godfather of Heroin' Dies in Myanmar". AP. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  17. ↑ Fuller, Thomas (2013-07-08). "Lo Hsing Han, Myanmar Drug Kingpin, Dies at 80". The New York Times.
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