The illegal drug trade, drug trafficking, or narcotrafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs through the use of drug prohibition laws. The think tank Global Financial Integrity's Transnational Crime and the Developing World report estimates the size of the global illicit drug market between US$426 and US$652 billion in 2014 alone. With a world GDP of US$78 trillion in the same year, the illegal drug trade may be estimated as nearly 1% of total global trade. Consumption of illegal drugs is widespread globally, and it remains very difficult for local authorities to reduce the rates of drug consumption.
Khun Sa was an ethnic Han drug lord and warlord. He was born in Hpa Hpeung village, in the Loi Maw ward of Mongyai, Northern Shan State, Burma. Before he assumed the Shan name "Khun Sa" in 1976, he was known primarily by his Chinese name, Zhang Qifu (張奇夫).
The United Wa State Army, abbreviated as the UWSA or the UWS Army, is the military wing of the United Wa State Party (UWSP), the de facto ruling party of Wa State in Myanmar. It is a well-equipped ethnic minority army of an estimated 20,000–30,000 Wa soldiers, led by Bao Youxiang. The UWSA was formed after the collapse of the armed wing of the Communist Party of Burma (CPB) in 1989.
The Big Circle Gang or Big Circle Boys is a Chinese triad. In 2009, the Big Circle Boys were described as "one of the largest and most sophisticated criminal conspiracies" in Canada.
Highland High School is a four-year public secondary school in Pocatello, Idaho, part of the Pocatello/Chubbuck School District#25. The school colors are red, black, and white and its mascot is a ram.
The Golden Triangle is a large, mountainous region of approximately 200,000 km2 (77,000 sq mi) in northeastern Myanmar, northwestern Thailand and northern Laos, centered on the confluence of the Ruak and Mekong rivers. The name "Golden Triangle" was coined by Marshall Green, a U.S. State Department official, in 1971 in a press conference on the opium trade. Today, the Thai side of the river confluence, Sop Ruak, has become a tourist attraction, with the House of Opium Museum, a Hall of Opium, and a Golden Triangle Park, and no opium cultivation.
Ya ba is a drug containing a mixture of methamphetamine and caffeine. It was formerly known as yama. Although it is illegal, it has considerable use in Southeast Asia.
The French Connection was a scheme through which heroin was smuggled from Indochina through Turkey to France and then to the United States and Canada. The operation started in the 1930s, reached its peak in the 1960s, and was dismantled in the 1970s. It was responsible for providing the vast majority of the heroin used in the United States at the time. The operation was headed by Corsicans Antoine Guérini and Paul Carbone. It also involved Auguste Ricord, Paul Mondoloni and Salvatore Greco.
Organised crime in Nigeria includes activities by fraudsters, bandits, drug traffickers and racketeers, which have spread across Western Africa. Nigerian criminal gangs rose to prominence in the 1980s, owing much to the globalisation of the world's economies and the high level of lawlessness and corruption in the country.
The illegal drug trade in China is influenced by factors such as history, location, size, population, and current economic conditions. China has one-sixth of the world's population and a large and expanding economy. China's large land mass, close proximity to the Golden Triangle, Golden Crescent, and numerous coastal cities with large and modern port facilities make it an attractive transit center for drug traffickers. Opium has played an important role in the country's history since before the First and Second Opium Wars in the mid-19th century.
Mong Ton Township is a Township in the Eastern Shan State of Myanmar. The capital town is Mong Ton. It borders are Mong Pying Township to the north, Mong Hsat Township to the east, Mong Nai Township and Mong Pan Township to the west and Thailand to the south. Loi Hkilek mountain is located in the area. It has two towns. They are Ponparkyin and Mong Hta. At Mong Ton township, live in Shan, Lahu, Lisu, Wa, Burma, and Chinese.
The 14K is a triad group based in Hong Kong but active internationally. It is the second largest triad group in the world with around 20,000 members split into thirty subgroups. They are the main rival of the Sun Yee On, which is the largest triad.
HimayatnagarHee-mā-yath-na-gar is a neighbourhood in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. It is also a mandal in Hyderabad District. It was named after Mir Himayat Ali Khan, the 1st son of the last Nizam of Hyderabad.
The Mong Tai Army, was an insurgent group consisting of soldiers from the Shan minority in Myanmar, founded in 1985 by Khun Sa. It had up to 20,000 armed troops at its peak, and was one of the largest forces opposing the government of Myanmar at its time. It was also involved in drug trafficking in Southeast Asia.
Jao por is a term used in Thailand to describe the boss of organized crime groups.
Opium production in Myanmar has historically been a major contributor to the country's gross domestic product (GDP). Myanmar is the world's largest producer of opium, producing some 25% of the world's opium, and forms part of the Golden Triangle. The opium industry was a monopoly during colonial times and has since been illegally tolerated, encouraged and informally taxed by corrupt officials in the Tatmadaw, Myanmar Police Force and rebel fighters, primarily as the basis for heroin manufacture. While opium poppy cultivation in Myanmar had declined year-on-year since 2015, cultivation area increased by 33% totalling 40,100 hectares alongside an 88% increase in yield potential to 790 metric tonnes in 2022 according to latest data from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Myanmar Opium Survey 2022. With that said, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has also warned that opium production in Myanmar may rise again if the economic crunch brought on by COVID-19 and the country's February 1 military coup persists, with significant public health and security consequences for much of Asia.
Crime is present in various forms in Myanmar and is continuous with the activities of many drug trafficking financed militias at the eastern and western border regions, and with corruption within and challenges to the central government.
Paloich refers to an area in the Melut County of Upper Nile State in the Greater Upper Nile region of South Sudan. It includes oil-related Paloich Airport and adjacent Palogue oil field.
Sam Gor, also known as The Company, is an international crime syndicate, based in Asia-Pacific. The organization is made up of members of five different triads: 14K, Bamboo Union, Big Circle Boys, Sun Yee On and Wo Shing Wo. Sam Gor is understood to be headed by Chinese–Canadian Tse Chi Lop, who was arrested in January 2021 in the Netherlands. The syndicate is primarily involved in drug trafficking, earning at least $8 billion per year.
Zhao Wei is a Chinese businessman and founder of the Hong Kong-registered company Kings Romans Group, which owns the Kings Romans casino franchise. The United States Treasury Department imposed sanctions on what they designated the Zhao Wei Transnational Criminal Organization in 2018 for its alleged involvement in laundering money and assisting in the storage and distribution of heroin, methamphetamine, and other narcotics for illicit networks, including the United Wa State Army which operates in Myanmar. Based in Laos in the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone (GTSEZ), Zhao Wei is also reported to engage in human trafficking, child prostitution, bribery, wildlife trafficking, and other forms of transnational organized crime. Much of this illicit activity is allegedly conducted through the Kings Romans casino organisation in the GTSEZ.
