The "Golden Triangle" refers to a triangular area located on the borders of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos in Southeast Asia. This area is rich in opium and other drugs and is the world's main drug producing area. The "Golden Triangle" is famous all over the world. The "Golden Triangle" includes Shan State and Kachin State in northern Myanmar, Chiang Rai Province and northern Chiang Mai Province in Thailand, Luang Namtha Province, Phongsaly, Oudomxay Province in Laos, and western Luang Prabang Province. , there are more than 3,000 villages and towns in the country. The total area is 194,000 square kilometers.
Because most of the "Golden Triangle" area is located in high mountains with an altitude of more than 1,000 meters, the climate is hot, the rainfall is abundant, and the soil is fertile, which is very suitable for the growth of poppies. In addition, the jungles here are dense, the roads are rugged, and the traffic is difficult. The country is isolated and beyond the reach of the governments of the three countries, providing unique political, economic, geographical, and climatic conditions for growing poppy.
Chiang Saen County is located on the Thai side of the "Golden Triangle", a famous drug source in the past. In the 1960s, this area had become one of the four major drug producing areas in the world famous for its opium production. It had become a golden area for opium cultivation, refining, trafficking and smuggling. For a long time, many groups of anti-government armed forces and other drug-related armed forces have been active here, so it is also known as the "Adventurer's Paradise". Since the introduction of alternative cultivation policies, local opium poppy cultivation has declined significantly. In order to help local farmers find employment, relevant Thai departments have also vigorously promoted the development of tourism, and now it has become one of the most popular tourist attractions for foreign tourists.
Although successive governments of the three countries have carried out anti-drug work, they have failed to effectively prevent the development of opium poppy cultivation in this region. From the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century, Britain, the United States, France and other countries successively came to the area to teach planting, refining, and sales techniques, and purchased opium. In the 1950s, the first opium production climax was formed here, followed by the 1960s. In the "golden age", the output increased from dozens of tons to about 200 tons. By the early 1980s, the output had reached about 700 tons. In 1988, it increased to 1,200 tons. In 1989, it doubled to 2,400 tons. In 1991, it had reached 2,400 tons. Breaking through the 3,000-ton mark.
In addition, there are many heroin processing factories in the "Golden Triangle" area, most of which are located in deep mountains and dense forests. A large number of technicians operate advanced machinery and equipment working day and night. Due to the high quality of opium in the "Golden Triangle" region, most of it is processed into refined drug heroin. "SEAHEROIN" has now become a special term for high-quality heroin and is sold all over the world.
In the "Golden Triangle" area of ??Thailand, there live the Miao, Yao and Lisu people who have been good at growing poppy for generations. Cultivation of poppy is their main source of economic income and a shortcut to wealth. Therefore, more and more people are engaged in poppy cultivation, and the production of drugs is also increasing.
Myanmar is the country with the largest opium poppy cultivation area and the largest output in the "Golden Triangle" region. The people here are mainly ethnic minorities from Myanmar, who have made a living by growing opium poppies for generations. In order to fight against the government and protect their opium cultivation industry, local residents armed themselves. Among these armed forces, the largest is the Kun Sa (Khun Sa) group on the former Myanmar-Thailand border. They have a strong and military-trained armed force of nearly 3,000 people. This force is dressed in military uniforms, equipped with sophisticated weapons and rich in combat experience.
From the late 1970s to the first few years of the 1980s, as the Myanmar and Thai armies stepped up their attacks on the Khun Sa Group, they destroyed a number of opium poppy farms. At the same time, the United Nations Foundation for the Control of Drug Abuse Special funds have also been allocated to promote the policy of replacing cereals with cereals and replacing opium poppies with coffee in the "Golden Triangle" area. It has achieved results for a period of time, and opium poppy production has dropped significantly, so that the "Golden Crescent" in Central Asia once replaced the Golden Triangle and became the world's largest opium production base. However, since 1986, poppy production in the "Golden Triangle" has rapidly recovered and developed, with output increasing sharply, greatly exceeding the historical record, and once again becoming the world's number one opium production base.
The heroin trafficked through the "Golden Triangle" region accounts for 60% to 70% of the world's total every year, and the region's annual heroin production capacity can meet the needs of global heroin consumption for two years. In January 1996, the armed forces led by Kunsa surrendered to the government.
However, drug production in this area has not stopped, and it is still the second largest opium-producing area in the world after the "Golden Crescent".
The opium poppy is not a native plant in the Golden Triangle. The drug problem in the Golden Triangle is closely related to the changing politics and international relations in the region. It is the influence of internal and external political forces that has led to the continuous strengthening and strengthening of the opium economy. developed and eventually became one of the world's major drug empires. The drug problem in the Golden Triangle is becoming increasingly serious. From the perspective of history, region, development of drug quantity and drug quality, we can simply divide the development of drugs in the Golden Triangle into several stages: the colonial era (marked by the end of the Dien Bien Phu Battle in 1954), the remnants of the Kuomintang era (up to 10 years in the 1950s), the Vietnam War era (spanning nearly 20 years in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s), the Kun Sa era (more than 10 years before and after the 1980s), and the post-Khun Sa era (Kun Sa era) From the surrender of Shah Shah to the present): From the perspective of the changes in the main opium-producing areas: the Laos era, the Thai-Myanmar border era, and the northern Myanmar border era; from a quantitative point of view, the planting area of ????drugs and opium production increased by leaps and bounds; from In terms of quality, it is the continuous development of drug types, which has experienced the transition from the traditional "opium kingdom" to the "heroin kingdom" and the "methamphetamine kingdom".
The so-called "Silver Triangle" refers to the Andes and Amazon regions where drug production in Latin America is concentrated in Colombia, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil. This area has a total area of ??more than 200,000 square kilometers and is known as the "Silver Triangle" since the 1970s because it is rich in cocaine, marijuana and other drugs.
Peru is the world’s largest producer of cocaine, with a coca cultivation area of ??more than 80,000 hectares and an annual production of about 60,000 tons of coca. The use of coca leaves to extract cocaine is Peru’s largest export of agricultural products, earning an annual profit of Foreign exchange USD 100 million. Bolivia produces about 50,000 tons of coca leaves annually, ranking second in the world. According to official statistics in Bolivia, among the country's 6 million people, there are about 500,000 farmers engaged in coca leaf cultivation and processing, and no less than 100,000 people engaged in coca leaf trafficking and trade. The annual income from exporting coca leaves is generally Around US$1 billion. In 1986, the year of the coca leaf harvest, the country made a profit of US$3 billion from growing, processing, and selling cocaine, which was four times higher than the country's export revenue that year.
Colombia is the third producer of cocaine, with an annual output of about 12,000 tons of coca leaves, ranking third in the world. Ecuador is the fourth place of cocaine production, with an annual output of about 900 tons of coca leaves, ranking fourth in the world. In total, the region produces 120,000 tons of coca leaves every year, making it the world's main base for the production, processing, and trafficking of cocaine.
Colombia is also the world's largest cannabis producer, with an annual output of 7,500 to 9,000 tons, ranking first in the world. At the same time, Colombia is also a coca leaf production base. Marijuana produced here and cocaine extracted from coca leaves are mainly smuggled and trafficked to the United States. According to estimates by the U.S. Anti-Narcotics Organization, Colombia sells eight to nine thousand tons of marijuana and more than 50 tons of cocaine to the United States every year. Therefore, Colombia is the largest drug supplier to the United States. Colombia's cannabis and cocaine production is the country's second-largest export crop after coffee. In addition, Colombia also produces a drug called "Brandanga". This drug is an alkaloid extracted from savannah leaves and a kind of thorn apple. It is in the form of white powder, but it is different from other alkaloids. It is not a stimulant, but a strong narcotic. of sedatives.
Mexico is the second place of cannabis production. According to relevant records, in 1984, Mexico produced 5,850 tons of cannabis, ranking second in the world after Colombia. In addition, Mexico also cultivates 4,100 hectares of opium, with a yield of about 20 tons. The cannabis produced in Mexico and the heroin extracted from opium are mainly smuggled and sold to the United States. Jamaica is the third source of cannabis.
Although Jamaica is a small island country, its annual cannabis output is as high as 3,000 tons, ranking third in the world after Colombia and Mexico. The country supplies 2,000 tons of cannabis to the United States every year. The United States is the fourth producer of cannabis, with an annual production of 1,650 tons of cannabis, accounting for about 11% of US consumption. The main cultivation areas are California and Hawaii. The total of the above four producing areas produces about 19,000 tons of cannabis annually, making them an important base for the production and sales of cannabis in the world.