The Golden Triangle, comprising Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, had been the world's largest source of opium and the most chaotic place along Southeast Asia. The northern part of the country, Myanmar, in particular, was a combination of drug production, processing and trafficking, making it the most difficult to combat.

Myanmar had a long history of unrest due to its history and terrain, and there were still dozens of ethnic armed forces in the country, and the people lived in great poverty. The armed forces needed large sums of money to fight for territory and had turned their attention to the opium market.

The W region in northern Burma was the...