TV Series19961 Season3 EpisodesEnded

The Heroin Wars

Documentary

History of the narcotics trade in Burma and the War on Drugs. In 1964, director Adrian Cowell and cameraman Chris Menges went to mountainous eastern Burma to film the Shan revolutionary forces fighting a bloody civil war against the military dictatorship. The impoverished Shans had only one way to finance the war: opium. Cowell has returned several times over the last 30 years to record the ongoing civil war and the burgeoning opium trade. The first and last episodes are produced in association with WGBH/FRONTLINE.

Watch Now Back to Catalog

Episodes & Seasons

Browse episodes by season for this series.

Miniseries

3 Episodes

EP 01

01.The Opium Convoys

51m

1996-07-06

01.The Opium Convoys

51m

Aired 1996-07-06

Lo Hsing-Han, Khun Sa and the beginning of the war on drugs. Trafficking initially funded rebellion against the anti-democratic Burmese Army dictatorship. As guerilla armies fought to control the huge mule convoys transporting opium to the outside world, the U.S. intervened to attack the convoys, then arrested the first "King of Opium" after inviting him to negotiate.

Watch Episode

EP 02

02.Smack City

51m

1996-07-13

02.Smack City

51m

Aired 1996-07-13

Hong Kong, the drug capital of southeast Asia for the last century. The success of Hong Kong police in combating opium caused many opium users to switch to cheaper, more easily smuggled heroin in the 1970s.

Watch Episode

EP 03

03.The Kings of Opium

51m

1996-07-20

03.The Kings of Opium

51m

Aired 1996-07-20

Khun Sa changes sides in the narcotics carousel. Returning to the Shan war of independence, even with $80 million in U.S. military aid the Burmese Army never halted or captured a single drug convoy. Despite their dramatic arrests and surrenders, the two "Kings of Opium" are now richer and more powerful than ever.

Watch Episode