I would like to expose about a man, drug lord (Lo Hsing Han). Lo Hsing Han's retirement has been much more comfortable than the prison cell he might have expected.
But, like every other drug lord who has lasted long enough to salt his gains into legal trades, the secret of his success is not his guns or cunning, but his connections.
Protected by his friends in Burma's military junta, the man once known as the "Godfather of Heroin" is today among the country's most successful businessmen, his fingers in everything from jade and teak to construction and luxury hotels.
The 73-year-old, once blamed for single-handedly flooding America's streets with heroin, is among dozens of regime "cronies" given government contracts to reconstruct the towns and villages of the storm-hit Irrawaddy Delta – deals likely to earn them millions of dollars in commissions from a fund financed mainly by aid from foreign governments.
Mr Lo's Asia World Company, which is run today by his son, US-educated Steven Law, is among 43 companies already earmarked for reconstruction contracts, according to Burma's state-run press. Many firms are understood to be owned by friends or relations of the generals, whose social lives revolve around Rangoon's golf courses.
Critics fear much of it will end up lining the pockets of the generals and their cronies, the military men disbursing generous contracts to their business friends and taking kickbacks in return.
"This donors' conference will be a cash cow," said Mark Farmaner, the director of the human rights group Burma Campaign UK.
"The generals are giving out contracts to their cronies to assist in the reconstruction, but much of it will disappear in bribes. I am sure that is one reason why they have now decided to let in foreign aid workers: they have realised that cheque-books may start opening."
Asia World was involved in building Burma's new capital, Naypyidaw, including junta leader Than Shwe's house. Mr Lo is also said to have organised the catering for Than Shwe's daughter Thandar's wedding , where she appeared wearing seven diamond-encrusted necklaces and where guests enjoyed a five-tiered wedding cake and gallons of champagne.
In a July 2010, New York Times profile that singled out Deepwater Horizon rig owner Transocean's proclivity for breaking rules, Barry Meier noted that many human-rights activists have been calling for an investigation into the company's relationship with a family of powerful drug lords in Burma. One of their number is indeed Lo Hsing Han, known as the "Godfather of heroin." Now it appears that those activists are finally getting their wish.
The Treasury Department has opened a probe into Transocean's dealings in the region. Last year, Transocean signed a deal to drill in Burmese waters controlled by a family of drug lords. The family's leaders are Stephen Law — whom the U.S. government suspects is a launderer of enormous amounts of drug money — and Han, who "has been one of the world's key heroin traffickers dating back to the early 1970s," the Treasury Department says.
Business dealings with Law and Han would be considered a major breach of U.S. sanctions against Burma. The government hopes to discover whether any of the sanctioned parties are listed on the drilling contract — and to determine if Transocean knew that it was cutting a deal with some of the world's most ruthless international criminals.
The military junta that rules Burma has been accused of committing genocide, and reportedly using to develop nuclear weapons.
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