<http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-khun1nov01,1,1117932.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-california>http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-khun1nov01,1,1117932.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-california
From the Los Angeles Times
Khun Sa, 74; headed narcotics empire in Southeast Asia
From the Associated Press
November 1, 2007
Khun Sa, a former drug warlord who headed a guerrilla army once described by the U.S. government as the world's largest producer of heroin, has died in Myanmar. He was 74.
Khuensai Jaiyen, a former secretary of Khun Sa with connections to Shan ethnic minority guerrilla groups, said his former boss died in Myanmar's capital, Yangon, on Oct. 26, according to his relatives.
The cause of death was not immediately known, but Khun Sa had long suffered from diabetes, partial paralysis and high blood pressure.
A Myanmar official in Yangon confirmed the death, saying Khun Sa was cremated Tuesday.
For years, Khun Sa maintained that he was a freedom fighter for the Shan, one of many ethnic minorities who for decades have battled the central government of Myanmar, also known as Burma. He had lived in seclusion in Yangon, also known as Rangoon, since 1996 after surrendering to Myanmar's ruling military junta, which allowed him to run a string of businesses behind a veil of secrecy. However, there was speculation that he was still involved in the narcotics trade, which was largely taken over by rival ethnic guerrilla groups such as the Wa.
At the height of his notoriety, Khun Sa presided over a veritable narcotics empire, leading a 20,000-member private militia called the Shan United Army -- later the Mong Tai Army -- in Myanmar's northeastern Shan state. It has been said that his army supplied nearly a third of the heroin on U.S. streets.
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http://www.monthlyreview.org/1100wins.htm
http://www.monthlyreview.org/crimes.htm