TV Show Details
Air Date:July 6th, 1996
Last Air Date:July 20th, 1996
Network:Channel 4
Status:Ended
Genres:Documentary
Original Language:English
Production Companies:Carlton UK Productions
The Heroin Wars (1996)
Channel 4
Miniseries
Plot
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.