Lo Hsing Han
{{Short description|Myanmar businessman and drug trafficker (1935–2013)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Lo Hsing Han
| native_name = {{nobold|罗星汉}}
| native_name_lang = zh-hans
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1935|9|25|df=y}}{{cite news|last=Weng|first=Lawi|title=A Funeral for 'the Godfather of Heroin'|url=http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/40238|access-date=17 July 2013|newspaper=The Irrawaddy|date=17 July 2013}}
| birth_place = Kokang, Burma{{cite news|url=http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=3299|title=Brothers-In-Peace|last=Seng|first=Naw|date=February 2004|work=The Irrawaddy|access-date=5 March 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110303060844/http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=3299|archive-date=3 March 2011}}{{cite book|author=缅甸《果敢志》编纂委员会|title=果敢志|year=2012|publisher=天馬出版有限責任公司|location=Hong Kong|language=zh-hans|isbn=9789624502084}}
| death_date = {{dda|df=y|2013|7|6|1935|9|25}}
| death_place = Yangon, Myanmar
| other_names = Law Sit Han ({{lang|my|လော်စစ်ဟန်}})
| organization =
| occupation = Businessman, drug trafficker
| known_for = Major Southeast Asian drug lord, Entrepreneur of Asia World
| criminal_charge = Drug trafficking (1973){{cite book|last=Booth|first=Martin|title=Opium: A History|publisher=Macmillan|date=25 May 1999|pages=[https://archive.org/details/opiumhistory00boot/page/298 298–300]|isbn=9780312206673|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/opiumhistory00boot/page/298}}
| criminal_penalty = Death, commuted to life imprisonment
| criminal_status = Commuted (1980)
| partner =
| children = Steven Law & 7 more
| parents =
| family = Lo Hsing-min (brother)
}}
{{family name hatnote|Lo|lang=Chinese}}
Lo Hsing Han or Law Sit Han ({{langx|my|လော်စစ်ဟန်}}, {{IPA|my|lɔ̀ sɪʔ hàɰ̃|IPA}}; {{zh|t=羅星漢|s=罗星汉|p=Luó Xīnghàn|first=t}}; 25 September 1935 – 6 July 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.{{cite news|url=http://www.singapore-window.org/80123awk.htm|first1=Anthony |last1=Davis |first2=Bruce |last2=Hawke|title=Business is Blooming|work=Asiaweek |date=January 23, 1997 |volume=24 |number=3 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190218081737/https://www.singapore-window.org/80123awk.htm |archive-date=18 February 2019 |url-status=dead |via=Singapore Window}} His spouse, Zhang Xiaowen, is a Chinese citizen and native of Gengma County in Yunnan.
Rise and fall
Lo Hsing Han was born poor in Kokang district.[https://www.economist.com/news/obituary/21582234-lo-hsing-han-heroin-king-and-business-tycoon-died-july-6th-aged-about-80-lo-hsing-han Lo Hsing Han, heroin king and business tycoon, died on July 6th, aged about 80] Economist He reportedly started his opium-trafficking career as chief of a local militia called Ka Kwe Ye (KKY)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 set up with the encouragement of General Ne Win to fight the Communists.{{cite web|url=http://www.asiapacificms.com/papers/pdf/gt_opium_trade.pdf|author=Bertil Lintner|title=The Golden Triangle Opium Trade: An Overview|publisher=Asia Pacific Media Services |date=March 2000|access-date=2009-01-06}} By the early 1970s, he was an important figure in the Asian drug trade, particularly in the trafficking of "China white" heroin.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/apr/08/johnsweeney.theobserver|title=How junta protects Mr Heroin|last=Sweeney|first=John|date=7 April 2001|work=The Observer|access-date=5 March 2012}} In August 1973, he was arrested in Thailand and handed over to Myanmar.{{cite news|author=Aye Aye Win|title=Man Dubbed 'Godfather of Heroin' Dies in Burma|url=http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/39490|access-date=8 July 2013|newspaper=The Irrawaddy|date=8 July 2013|author-link=Aye Aye Win}} 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.
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.
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.{{cite web|url=http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=14151&page=2 |title=Tracking the Tycoons |publisher=The Irrawaddy |date=September 2008 |volume=16 |number=9 |access-date=2009-01-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100920043536/http://irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=14151&page=2 |archive-date=2010-09-20 }} 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.{{cite news|url=http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=10567|author=Wai Moe|title=More Junta Cronies Hit By US Sanctions|publisher=The Irrawaddy, February 26, 2008|access-date=2009-01-10|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080227135900/http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=10567|archive-date=February 27, 2008}}
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.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/burma/story/0,,2185561,00.html|author=Peter Beaumont and Alex Duval Smith|title=Drugs and astrology: how 'Bulldog' wields power|work=The Guardian |date=October 11, 2007 |access-date=2007-10-11 | location=London}} 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.{{cite web |url=http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21748 |title=Steven Law's Rising Empire |access-date=2014-01-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319024008/http://irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21748 |archive-date=2012-03-19 }}
Death
Lo, heroin king and business tycoon, died on 6 July 2013, in Yangon, Myanmar.{{cite web|url=http://investvine.com/myanmars-godfather-of-heroin-dies-bounty-on-successor/|title=Myanmar's 'Godfather of Heroin' dies, bounty on successor|first=Justin|last=Calderon|work=Inside Investor|date=8 July 2013|access-date=8 July 2013}} He was 80{{refn|1 =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.|group = note|name=age}} and is survived by his wife, four sons, four daughters and 16 grandchildren, leaving them behind with a vast sum of wealth.{{cite web |title=Man Dubbed 'Godfather of Heroin' Dies in Myanmar |url=http://bigstory.ap.org/article/man-dubbed-godfather-heroin-dies-myanmar |agency=AP |access-date=8 July 2013 |archive-date=12 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130712024458/http://bigstory.ap.org/article/man-dubbed-godfather-heroin-dies-myanmar |url-status=dead }}{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/09/world/asia/lo-hsing-han-wealthy-trafficker-from-myanmar-dies-at-80.html |title=Lo Hsing Han, Myanmar Drug Kingpin, Dies at 80 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=2013-07-08 |last1=Fuller |first1=Thomas}} 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
{{reflist|group=note}}
References
{{reflist}}
- [http://www.singapore-window.org/sw05/051123au.htm "Singapore's hand in Golden Triangle"] by Michael McKenna at Singapore-window.org, November 23, 2005
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20060922103928/http://mission.itu.ch/MISSIONS/Myanmar/00nlm/n000507.htm#(4) Public Works and Asia World Co Ltd sign agreement to construct Kyukok-Muse-Nanhkam road] New Light of Myanmar, 7 May 2000
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lo Hsing Han}}
Category:Burmese businesspeople
Category:Burmese people of Chinese descent
Category:Burmese prisoners sentenced to death
Category:People convicted of treason