Chapter 990 Drug Lord (Part 1)
The armored vehicle moved at a snail's pace, taking a full day to cover what should have been a half-day journey. By the time they arrived at the familiar mine, it was already getting dark.
When Zhuang Rui got out of the car, he felt like his whole body was about to fall apart; the military armored vehicle didn't have any good shock absorption system.
Although Hu Rong is a local and often travels between the mine and Hpakant City by car, he still felt a bit overwhelmed this time, and his legs were weak after he climbed out of the armored vehicle.
Holding onto the armored vehicle's deck, Hu Rong said weakly, "Zhuang Rui, let's check the mine tomorrow. Get some rest after dinner tonight..."
Actually, having Zhuang Rui inspect the jade mine was just a formality. After all, Zhuang Rui was the second largest shareholder, and if he objected, Hu Rong wouldn't be able to sell the mine completely.
"Alright, Brother Hu, if you're tired, take a rest. Brother Zhang said he had some pheasants shot down..."
After getting out of the car, Zhuang Rui used his spiritual energy to cleanse his body. Although he was still a little tired mentally, his body had fully recovered, and he could run another five kilometers of mountain road without any problem.
"Alright, but don't stray outside the mine's warning zone, the situation isn't looking good lately..."
Hu Rong was exhausted, and being over forty years old, he couldn't compare to the younger men like Zhuang Rui. After giving some instructions, he didn't even eat and went straight back to his cabin to rest.
"Hey, Shura, you're pretty energetic..."
Zhuang Rui turned around and saw Li Zhen looking around curiously, his eyes constantly darting back and forth in the bushes.
Li Zhen curled his lip and said, "That's nothing. Back then, Peng Fei and I walked eighty miles through the jungle in one night and killed more than ten people..."
"We know you two are amazing, right? Stop bragging a bit, it won't kill you..."
Zhuang Rui didn't say anything, but he was secretly shocked. He had walked through the Savage Mountain and knew how difficult the mountain roads were. For Peng Fei and Li Zhen to chase the enemy for more than 80 miles at night was simply an impossible task.
"Hehe, a hero doesn't dwell on past glories. Brother Zhuang, how about we find some guns tomorrow and go hunting in the Savage Mountain?"
Li Zhen wasn't angry. He looked around and saw several concealed firing positions set up around the mine. His eyes lit up. Due to his professional habit, the first thing he did when he arrived at a place was to observe the terrain.
There was only one road leading into the mine. Li Zhen could see that several sentries had been set up along this road, which was only about forty meters long. There were even people hiding in a tree. This level of security was comparable to the guard force of a temporary command post in the field.
This made Li Zhen feel a sense of excitement. Since leaving the army, he could no longer carry a gun, which he found a bit strange. Now, being in this environment, Li Zhen felt as if he had returned to the familiar army.
"Okay, I got lost last time I came here and didn't have a chance to go hunting..."
Zhuang Rui, oblivious to the heavy security at the mine, readily agreed. Turning to Zhang Guojun, he smiled and said, "Brother Zhang, since my little brother has brought this up, you'd better give me some face. I'll cover all the bullets you need..."
Zhang Guojun said with a wry smile, "Boss Zhuang..."
"No, just call me Brother Zhuang, the same as before..."
Zhuang Rui waved his hand, interrupting Zhang Guojun.
"Alright, bro it is. Anyway, once you become a boss, you won't disown a roughneck like me, will you?"
Zhang Guojun was usually quite forthright, but his face soon fell, and he said, "Brother Zhuang, to be honest, let alone shooting guns, even if you wanted to fire an artillery, I could get you one..."
"Stop, Brother Zhang, stop! I didn't come here to have sex, don't say things like that..."
Zhuang Rui was drinking mineral water when he heard Zhang Guojun's words and almost spat it out. The term "fireworks" has a deep connotation in China, and anyone can misinterpret it.
"So what if it's a cannon? You think I can't handle it? Let me tell you, I set off a few cannons every month..."
Zhang Guojun rarely goes to China and was somewhat dismissive of Zhuang Rui's words, thinking that Zhuang Rui was looking down on him.
"Alright, Brother Zhang, please continue. Let's not fire the cannon..."
Zhuang Rui gave a wry smile. His thoughts weren't pure. Look at Old Zhang, how righteously he shouted "fire!" He was worth learning from!
Zhang Guojun muttered to himself, "Firing one shot isn't a big deal, is it?"
"Alright, Brother Zhang, just get me a few AK submachine guns tomorrow. I trust you can fire them, okay?"
Zhuang Rui was almost driven to the brink of collapse by Zhang Guojun. Why was this guy so persistent about this?
"Alright, shoot all you want, but bro, I'm warning you, you can only shoot around the mine, not further away..."
Zhang Guojun was quite decisive this time, nodding in agreement.
Zhuang Rui immediately objected, saying, "What's around here? You're blasting rocks and clearing mountains every day; even wild animals would be scared away..."
Nowadays, jade mining is done with machinery and explosives, making a rumbling sound like thunder every day. It's estimated that there aren't many wild animals left, even on the edge of the Savage Mountain. Therefore, Zhuang Rui was very dissatisfied with Zhang Guojun's words.
Zhuang Rui wasn't an animal rights activist. In fact, most of the tiger penises he brought back last time had already been stolen, so Zhuang Rui was too embarrassed to ask Hu Rong for them again. He was thinking of getting a fresh one himself.
But nowadays Zhang Guojun won't let me go far, so there's probably not even a lynx around here, let alone a tiger.
“Brother, it’s not that I don’t want you to go, it’s just that things haven’t been peaceful lately. Several groups of drug traffickers have entered the Savage Mountain. Last time they almost came to our mine and even injured one of our brothers…”
Zhang Guojun smiled bitterly. Zhuang Rui's disappearance in the Savage Mountain last time almost drove him crazy. If he encountered drug dealers this time, he would be too ashamed to work for Hu Rong. So he couldn't let Zhuang Rui get close to the Savage Mountain no matter what.
"Drug dealer?"
Zhuang Rui was stunned when he heard this. He had looked at the map and knew that Hpakant and the Golden Triangle were far apart, and there were countless primeval forests in between. How could drug traffickers get here?
When Hu Rong first mentioned it, Zhuang Rui thought he was joking, but now, judging from Zhang Guojun's expression, it didn't seem like he was lying.
Zhang Guojun straightened his expression and said, "Brother Zhuang, would I lie to you? This time, it was mainly the Thai military that sent troops, sweeping across the Golden Triangle. All drug trafficking forces were hit, and many big drug lords have gone into hiding... The situation in the Hpakant region is complex, with many local forces, making it a paradise for drug traffickers. The wealthy big drug lords are not in danger and are hiding in the city, but many of the scattered small groups have gone into the Savage Mountain..."
Approximately how many drug traffickers have entered the mountains?
Upon hearing Zhang Guojun's words, Peng Fei and Li Zhen's expressions instantly turned somewhat cold. They had dealt with those people quite a bit back then and knew that these people were ruthless and never left any survivors when they encountered strangers during drug trafficking. It could be said that each of them had blood on their hands.
Moreover, drug traffickers live in jungle environments year-round, and in tropical rainforest regions, they are even more difficult to deal with than special forces in some countries. It can be said that Peng Fei and Li Zhen both grew up in the process of fighting against drug traffickers.
"I don't know how many there were. Last time, there were probably more than twenty people who tried to attack the mine. When they saw that we were heavily guarded, they fired a few shots and ran away..."
Zhang Guojun didn't know exactly how many drug trafficking organizations had come to Hpakant, but to be on the safe side, he transferred almost half of the young men from the Chinese town there. Now, the armed force guarding the mine has reached more than 600 people.
"Doesn't Myanmar frequently send troops to fight in the Golden Triangle? How come... how come they've hidden themselves here, and the Myanmar government is ignoring them?"
Zhuang Rui asked, somewhat puzzled. Didn't we often see news on TV about countries working together to combat armed forces in the Golden Triangle?
Upon hearing Zhuang Rui's words, Zhang Guojun dismissively replied, "Well, Mandela and Hpakant are the areas where the military government's control is weakest. Hpakant has always been known for its heroin, jade, and gold, and many drug lords have their hideouts there..."
"Brother Zhang, has something happened in the Golden Triangle?"
Peng Fei and Li Zhen exchanged a glance. They had dealt with drug traffickers for many years and knew that the Golden Triangle was not so easy to destroy. Now that this had happened, there must be a problem within the drug lords themselves.
Zhang Guojun nodded and said, "Yes, I heard that Khun Sa is dying..."
"Khun Sa? No wonder, it looks like the Golden Triangle is going to be in chaos for a while..."
Peng Fei shook his head and muttered, "Khun Sa is quite the ruthless one!"
"A tycoon? Isn't he just a drug lord?"
Zhuang Rui found it very strange that Peng Fei, who had always disliked drug traffickers, would give such an evaluation of Khun Sa.
Almost everyone who knows about the Golden Triangle has heard of Khun Sa's name, and Zhuang Rui is no exception. However, as far as he knows, Khun Sa was a notorious drug lord who committed all sorts of evil deeds.
During Khun Sa's rule over the Golden Triangle, the drug trade there reached its peak, surpassing even drug-producing regions like Mexico to become the world's largest drug hub.
Over the past few decades, drugs flowing from Khun Sa to various parts of the world accounted for nearly 60 percent of the global drug market, which aroused strong hostility from major powers including the United States and the United Kingdom, who repeatedly urged Myanmar and Thailand to carry out a crackdown on the Golden Triangle.
Despite this, Khun Sa remained in power for decades, effectively establishing a state within a state in the Golden Triangle, demonstrating the extent of his influence there.
Peng Fei glanced at Zhuang Rui and said, "Brother Zhuang, Khun Sa is more than just a drug lord. Did you know that he surrendered to the Burmese government ten years ago and has been living in Yangon ever since..."
Chapter 991 Drug Lord (Part 2)
"surrender?"
Zhuang Rui found the word quite novel; it seemed like such terms were frequently encountered in books recounting the history of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party before liberation.
If a major drug lord like Khun Sa were in China, even if he surrendered, he wouldn't have a good ending. Given his crimes, he would have been executed or executed a hundred or two times over. However, Zhuang Rui didn't expect that there was such a thing as surrender in Myanmar.
“That’s right, it was surrender. People like Khun Sa can no longer be simply described as drug lords…”
Peng Fei had a deep understanding of Khun Sa and told Zhuang Rui some of Khun Sa's history.
There is a legend circulating in the Golden Triangle region that when Khun Sa was born, he cried day and night, but as soon as he smelled opium, his crying would stop and an unbelievable smile would appear on his little face. Some people say that he was born for drugs.
Khun Sa was Chinese; his father and grandfather were Han Chinese. In Myanmar, which was very xenophobic at the time, they miraculously became the Shan chieftains of the Laymo Mountains in northern Myanmar. Khun Sa was raised by a man named Kun San.
In 1949, remnants of Chiang Kai-shek's 8th and 26th Armies fled from Yunnan to Burma and settled in the Golden Triangle region.
Unable to obtain supplies from Taiwan, these defeated soldiers resorted to opium cultivation to solve their supply problems. From then on, opium cultivation in the Golden Triangle transitioned from small-scale production by individual households to large-scale development.
By this time, Khun Sa had grown into a strong and capable man. He saw the great potential of the drug trade, so he sneaked back to the Golden Triangle from Thailand, married the daughter of a leader, and quickly became his father-in-law's right-hand man.
The Golden Triangle borders three countries, and there are countless ragtag armies and small armed groups from various tribes. They often fight each other for drug profits. Without government restraint, whoever has the biggest fist is in charge.
Khun Sa realized that the strongest force at the time was still the remnants of the Kuomintang army. During a conflict between his tribe and the Kuomintang army, he personally killed his father-in-law to curry favor with the Kuomintang army and request an alliance.
Afterwards, Khun Sa used various tactics, both appeasement and coercion, to incorporate all the small gangs in the vicinity, establishing a unified army and a relatively independent territory in northern Myanmar.
After acquiring territory, Khun Sa began to expand his drug business. He took measures to encourage local people to grow opium, spent huge sums of money, and used various means to invite researchers from developed countries to continuously upgrade refining equipment.
Moreover, Khun Sa had a strong sense of brand recognition and managed to develop and refine a type of drug with a purity of up to 98% in the dense jungle, making it highly sought after by drug dealers and addicts worldwide.
"Damn, so Number Four was actually created by Khun Sa?"
Zhuang Rui was stunned when he heard this. Having grown up watching Hong Kong films, Zhuang Rui was very familiar with the No. 4 drug that often appeared in movies, but he only knew its origin now.
"Heh, Khun Sa isn't just a drug lord, he's more like a member of the Politburo..."
Peng Fei smiled and repeated what he had just said: After the Golden Triangle became infamous, at the height of its drug problem, it once occupied 70% of the world's drug market.
Besides drug trafficking, Khun Sa also smuggled gems, trafficked weapons, and continuously expanded his army, which at its peak numbered over 20,000. He set up checkpoints and levied various taxes and fees in the Golden Triangle, making it a veritable "state within a state." As a result, the Burmese government began to get anxious as Khun Sa grew his power.
In 1969, the Burmese government notified Khun Sa, who held the title of Burmese general, to attend a meeting at the headquarters of the Northern Military Region. Unaware that it was a trap, Khun Sa was immediately arrested and sentenced to death.
However, fearing trouble from Khun Sa's army, the Burmese government never dared to execute him. Khun Sa's chief of staff, Zhang Suquan, devised a plan to kidnap two Soviet doctors who came to work in Burma, demanding their exchange for Khun Sa. This shocked the world, and the Soviet Union reacted strongly. The Burmese government had no choice but to release the "tiger" back into the mountains five months later.
Khun Sa, deeply aware of the importance of power, immediately established the Shan State Parliament in the Golden Triangle region after his release from prison, creating a government with multiple ministers. In 1994, he publicly declared the establishment of the Shan State Republic, appointing himself president, and his army was called the Shan State Revolutionary Army.
Khun Sa used the money he earned from drug trafficking to continuously upgrade his weapons and equipment. His weapons were always more advanced than those of the Myanmar government army. Even though Myanmar, Thailand, and Laos launched multiple raids against him, they were unable to fundamentally harm him. On several occasions, they were even defeated and suffered heavy losses.
Moreover, Khun Sa was cunning and resourceful throughout his life, using various means to protect himself. He once tricked U.S. Senator and Committee Member of the National Narcotics Control Board, Wolf, into believing that he wanted to turn over a new leaf and transform from a drug trafficker into an anti-drug advocate.
The naive Mr. Woolf even claimed in a speech to the U.S. Congress that Khun Sa was a "wise national revolutionary and a staunch anti-drug advocate," which made quite a fool of himself.
However, due to the rampant drug problem, which has aroused global vigilance and outrage, many countries have reached a consensus on eradicating drug production and trafficking. The Myanmar government launched a large-scale offensive against Khun Sa's "Shan State Revolutionary Army".
Because of Khun Sa's distrust of the Shan people, he appointed a large number of Chinese descendants to high-ranking military and political positions, which angered the Shan people. Thousands of soldiers deserted the "revolutionary army," and Khun Sa's power was severely weakened.