The Mong Tai Army is a former ressistance force of the Shan minority in Burma, founded by Khun Sa

Khun Sa

Khun Sa , also known as Chang Chi-fu was a Burmese warlord. He was born in Loi Maw of Mongyai. He was also dubbed the "Opium King" due to his opium trading in the so-called Golden Triangle. He was also the leader of the Shan United Army and the Mong Tai Army.- Biography :Khun Sa was born to a...

. It had up to 20 000 armed members and was one of the forces opposing

Internal conflict in Burma

The internal conflict in Burma is a term that is employed to refer to the current violence in Burma that has existed since approximately April 1948 between the Burmese government and the various ethnic groups in the country. More recently, the conflict has been against the military regime that has...

 the central government. It was also involved in drug trafficking

Golden Triangle (Southeast Asia)

The Golden Triangle is one of Asia's two main illicit opium-producing areas. It is an area of around that overlaps the mountains of four countries of Southeast Asia: Burma, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. Along with Afghanistan in the Golden Crescent and Pakistan, it has been one of the most...

.

History

On 7 July 1995 a rebellion broke out in the Muang Tai Army, and 8,000 fighters under the command of Colonel Yod Kan and Dae Wain retreated into the village Hsipaw, where they built a new base. They called themselves the Shan State National Army, and the group intended to negotiate a ceasefire with the Myanmar military government. Khun Sa claimed that the source of the problems were that the soldiers did not wish to fight under a half Chinese leader. The rebels claimed that the drug profits go only to Khun Sa and the civilians suffered in the fight against the Myanmar military regime. The Mung Tai Army did never recovered from this rebellion.

Eventually in 1996 Khun Sa and his army surrendered to the Burmese army. Most of the MTA laid down their arms but around 3,000 formed the Shan United Revolutionary Army in the southwest region of Burma. According to the State Peace and Development Council

State Peace and Development Council

The State Peace and Development Council was the official name of the military regime of Burma , which seized power in 1988. On 30 March 2011, Senior General Than Shwe signed a decree to officially dissolve the Council....

, the terms of the surrender stipulated that in return for ending his insurgency and surrendering his weaponry, Khun Sa would be allowed to live under close government supervision in Rangoon, where he could engage indirectly, via third-party investors, in legitimate business -- but not drug trafficking -- and would not be prosecuted for his trafficking activities or extradited to the US.

Drugs

Khun Sa has frequently claimed that the Muang Tai Army was not about the drug business, actually being opposed to the opium crop. Khun Sa once offered to sell the entire opium crop to the U.S. government, but the US refused this offer. In 1989, Khun Sa was charged by a New York court for trying to import 1,000 tons of heroin. His drug traficing resulted in the US DEA offering a $ 2,000,000 bounty for his arrest.