Lo Hsing Han

Lo Hsing Han
Native name	羅星漢 (Luó Xīnghàn) or လော်စစ်ဟန်
Born	(1935-09-25)25 September 1935 Kokang District, Scheduled Areas (now Shan State), Burma
Died	Yangon, Myanmar
Residence	20-23 Masoeyein Kyaung Street, Mayangon Township, Yangon
Nationality	Burmese
Known for	Major Southeast Asian drug lord, Entrepreneur of Asia World
Criminal charge	Drug trafficking (1973)
Criminal penalty	Life imprisonment
Criminal status	Commuted (1980)
Spouse(s)	Zhang Xiaowan (张小菀)
Children	Steven Law
Family	Lo Hsing-min (brother)

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Lo.

Lo Hsing Han or Law Sit Han (Burmese: လော်စစ်ဟန်, IPA: [lɔ̀ sɪʔ hàɴ]; simplified Chinese: 罗星汉; traditional Chinese: 羅星漢; pinyin: Luó Xīnghàn; ca. 1930s – July 6, 2013) was a Burmese drug trafficker and became a major Burmese business tycoon, with financial ties to Singapore. He was an ethnic Kokang. His spouse, Zhang Xiaowen, is a Chinese citizen and native of Gengma County in Yunnan.

Rise and fall

Lo was born poor in Kokang district. Lo reportedly started his opium-trafficking career as chief of a local militia called Ka Kwe Ye (KKY) set up with the encouragement of General Ne Win to fight the Communists. By the early 1970s he was an important figure in the Asian drug trade, particularly in the trafficking of 'China White' heroin. In August 1973, he was arrested in Thailand and handed over to the Burmese government. 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.He was close friends with the Myanmar military intelligence officer ,Steven Howy 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.

Leading entrepreneur

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. 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.

According to a report in The Observer, he helped organize the opulent 2006 wedding of the daughter of the Burmese dictator Than Shwe.

Asia World Company is involved in a number of mega projects such as a Sino-Burma 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. While Steven Law oversees the business interests in Myanmar, his other sons are based in Thailand, Singapore and Taiwan doing business. Steven Law accompanied Thein Sein during his first official foreign visit to China after inauguration as a civilian president.

Death

Lo died on 6 July 2013, in Yangon, Myanmar. He was 80 and is survived by his wife, four sons, four daughters and 16 grandchildren.

References

• "Singapore's hand in Golden Triangle" by Michael McKenna at Singapore-window.org, November 23, 2005

External links

• Public Works and Asia World Co Ltd sign agreement to construct Kyukok-Muse-Nanhkam road New Light of Myanmar, 7 May 2000