AllMovie

In the cultivated fields of Burma grows a beautiful flower with a terrible legacy. The poppy's seed has been exploited for centuries to produce first opium, and then its more destructive derivative, heroin. This three-part series chronicles the history of the opium and heroin trade in Burma. It is a story that leads from that small country throughout Southeast Asia, and then around the world. This episode follows the fortunes of two men who led the war of independence fought by the Khan people against the government of Burma. The warlords vied for control over the Khan's cash crop of opium. In doing so, each man became rich, and the heroin trade continues to burgeon exponentially, despite all international efforts to stop its growth. Archival film clips, photographs, and interviews tell the story.