The Heroin Wars
History of the narcotics trade in Burma and the War on Drugs. In 1964, director Adrian Cowell and cameraman Chris Menges went to mountainous eastern Burma to film the Shan revolutionary forces fighting a bloody civil war against the military dictatorship. The impoverished Shans had only one way to finance the war: opium. Cowell has returned several times over the last 30 years to record the ongoing civil war and the burgeoning opium trade. The first and last episodes are produced in association with WGBH/FRONTLINE.
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Seasons
1.The Opium Convoys
06-07-199651mLo Hsing-Han, Khun Sa and the beginning of the war on drugs. Trafficking initially funded rebellion against the anti-democratic Burmese Army dictatorship. As guerilla armies fought...
2.Smack City
13-07-199651mHong Kong, the drug capital of southeast Asia for the last century. The success of Hong Kong police in combating opium caused many opium users to switch to cheaper, more easily smu...
3.The Kings of Opium
20-07-199651mKhun Sa changes sides in the narcotics carousel. Returning to the Shan war of independence, even with $80 million in U.S. military aid the Burmese Army never halted or captured a s...
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