For most of 1996, there was a decrease in the flow of the drug producing region known as the Golden Triangle - Burma, Laos, and Thailand. But China is rapidly replacing Thailand as the main transit for drugs from the Burmese sector of the golden Triangle. This is due to the fact that drug baron, Khun Sa, has agreed to a peace deal with the Burmese government. The peace agreement states that Burma will stop fighting, and in return will gain the right to trade freely in any commodity.

The northern-Burma routes to China have long been monopolized by heroin lords who are former commanders of the Communist Party of Burma. The huge demand for opium has resulted in the quadrupling of the price of opium due to the decrease in supply.

The U.S. government doesn't want to get involved in the problems of the Easterners due to speculations by journalists and authors that the C.I.A. (Central Intelligence Agency) is behind a drug trafficking network and espionage rings using drug money to finance convert operations. Currently, reports say that U.S. officials do not want to take part in the drug trafficking of opium although that is undeniably questionable.