Lo Hsing Han | |
|---|---|
罗星汉 | |
| Born | (1935-09-25)25 September 1935[1][2][3]: 481–482 or 1934 (1934)[note 1] |
| Died | 6 July 2013(2013-07-06) (aged 77)[note 1] |
| Other names | Law Sit Han (လော်စစ်ဟန်) |
| Occupation(s) | Businessman, drug trafficker |
| Known for | Major Southeast Asian drug lord, Entrepreneur ofAsia World |
| Criminal charge | Drug trafficking (1973)[5] |
| Criminal penalty | Death, commuted tolife imprisonment[5] |
| Criminal status | Commuted (1980)[5] |
| Spouse | Zhang Xiaowan (张小菀)[2] |
| Children | Steven Law & 7 more |
| Family | Lo Hsing-min (brother)[5] |
Lo Hsing Han orLaw Sit Han (Burmese:လော်စစ်ဟန်,IPA:[lɔ̀sɪʔhàɰ̃];traditional Chinese:羅星漢;simplified Chinese:罗星汉;pinyin:Luó Xīnghàn; 1935 – July 6, 2013) was a Burmese businessman anddrug trafficker. He later became a major businesstycoon across Burma, with financial ties toSingapore. He was an ethnicKokang-Chinese.[6] His spouse, Zhang Xiaowen, is a Chinese citizen and native ofGengma County inYunnan.[2]
Lo Hsing Han was born poor inKokang district.[7] He reportedly started hisopium-trafficking career as chief of a localmilitia calledKa Kwe Ye (KKY)[8] set up with the encouragement of GeneralNe Win to fight theCommunists.[9] By the early 1970s, he was an important figure in the Asiandrug trade, particularly in the trafficking of "China white" heroin.[10] In August 1973, he was arrested inThailand and handed over to Myanmar.[11] He was sentenced to death fortreason on the grounds of his brief association with the insurgentShan State Army (SSA). He was released in the 1980 during aGeneral Amnesty.[9]
When the Kokang andWainsurgent troops mutinied and toppled theCommunist leadership in 1989,military intelligence chiefKhin Nyunt found in Lo a useful intermediary in quickly arrangingcease-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 toKhun Sa, a rival KKY chief of Loi Maw. No fewer than 17 newheroinrefineries were located within a year in Kokang State and adjacent areas.[9]
In June 1992, he founded theAsia 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 theconstruction andenergy sectors.[9][12] In the wake ofCyclone Nargis, in February 2008, theUS government included Lo, his son, and daughter-in-law, along with the 10 companies they control in Singapore, in its targetedsanctions list of themilitary junta's business cronies.[13]
According to a report inThe Observer, he helped organize and finance the opulent 2006 wedding of the daughter of the Myanmar dictatorThan Shwe.[14] 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 aSino-Myanmar oil and gas pipeline project, a deep sea port atKyaukpyu, the controversialMyitsone hydro-power plant and theTasang hydro-power plant. Companies of the Chinese government have investments in all of them. Steven Law accompaniedThein Sein during his first official foreign visit to China after inauguration as a civilian president.[15]
Lo, heroin king and business tycoon, died on 6 July 2013, inYangon, Myanmar.[16] He was 80[note 1] and is survived by his wife, four sons, four daughters and 16 grandchildren, leaving them behind with a vast sum of wealth.[17][18] 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.