The Opium War of 1967 (also called Events on the Mekong River in the Soviet press) is a trilateral clash between armed groups controlling the extraction and processing of opium in the Golden Triangle at the junction of the borders of Burma , Thailand and Laos on the Mekong River.
| The Opium War (1967) | |
|---|---|
| Main Conflict: Civil War in Laos | |
| date | 1967 |
Content
Reasons for War
The territory of the Golden Triangle was virtually beyond the control of any government. On the Burmese territory in the state of Shan there was a long-term civil war with the confrontation of numerous factions (see. The Civil War in Burma ). A protracted civil war was also waged in Laos , weighed down by the intervention of the United States and Vietnam (see The Vietnam War , The Secret War in Laos ). The border territories of Thailand were controlled by partisan armies and communists .
Extensive CIA intervention in the region (primarily in Laos ) caused a sharp increase in demand for opium and the organization of a network for transporting opium, purification at heroin factories, and shipping to Hong Kong and the United States . In such circumstances, there must have been conflicts related to drug trafficking.
War veterans
From Laos , General Rattikon , supporting the king, took part in the conflict. He also took advantage of the help of American aviation.
On the part of the Shan state, an army led by drug lord Kun Sa , who controls territory in Burma and partly in Thailand, participated in the conflict.
A third party to the conflict was the Kuomintang army, ousted from China after the 1949 revolution, stationed in Burma and also associated with the cultivation and marketing of opium.
Event
The conflict arose because Burmese opposition leader Kun Sa decided to swap deals with heroin factories. This was also due to a protracted conflict with the Kuomintang , which announced an embargo on opium of Kun Sa and his army and blocked roads. Kun Sa was forced to redirect opium to Laos.
A huge caravan with a crop tens of kilometers long, gathered from everywhere, and headed towards the heroin factory in Laos. Lao General Rattikon stopped the caravan and confiscated a significant part of the goods, transporting it with the help of American aircraft to the depths of the country. The Kuomintang detachments approached from the other side. Under Ban Khwan , a tripartite battle arose in Laos.
As a result of the fighting, Kun Sa's forces suffered heavy losses, and to a large extent lost their positions in the region, and the Kuomintang troops strengthened. Kun Sa was later arrested by the Burmese troops.
See also
- Burma Civil War
- Secret war in Laos
- Golden Triangle
- Shan
- Kun sa
- Project: History / Lists / List of wars of the XX century
Literature
- AndrΓ© and Louis Boucaud. Burma's Golden. Triangle On the Trail of the Opium Warlords. Asia Books. 1992.
- Lintner, Bertil. Blood Brothers: Crime, Business and Politics in Asia . - Allen & Unwin, 2002 .-- P. 256. - ISBN 1865084190 .