There are 74,000 people in the Fourth Special Zone of Myanmar where Mengla is located, and 13 ethnic groups live in this land of only 4,952 square kilometers. More than a decade ago, it was a key area for drug cultivation, processing and trafficking, and an important channel for drugs from northern Myanmar to flow to the international market.
1On June 30, 989, the Myanmar government approved the establishment of the fourth special zone in the eastern part of Shan State, which has jurisdiction over three administrative regions: Mengla, Nanban and Salo. At that time, the fourth special zone also planted more than 22,000 mu of opium, with three heroin processing plants and one yellow border processing plant. 199 1, the sar began to implement the drug control plan. At this time, Mengla was still a small mountain village with no electricity and only thatched houses. Subsequently, relying on the tourism industry in Xishuangbanna, China, Mengla made great efforts to develop "characteristic tourism" and embarked on another "unique" development path.
1in April 1997, after inspection, the central government of Myanmar announced to the world that drugs had been completely eliminated in Mengla, the eastern part of Shan State. Observers in this regard have noticed that the day when Mengla got rid of drugs is the day when its gambling industry rose.
1On August 26th, 1998, the Department of Political Science and Law of the Fourth Special Zone in the East of Shan State, Myanmar promulgated the Measures for the Trial Administration of Gaming Industry in the Fourth Special Zone in the East of Shan State, Myanmar, and the gambling projects approved for operation include: big (small) baccarat, Pai Jiu, mahjong, size, blackjack, stud, magro, electronic game gambling, etc.
With the "loose" legal protection, Mengla has become a hot spot for investment. "In the past ten years, Mengla has attracted investment of two or three billion dollars." Xiong, director of the Economic Research Center of Xishuangbanna State Government, said. The main direction of investment is gambling. In just ten years, Mengla, a small mountain village surrounded by mountains on the Shan Plateau, has grown into a "fantastic" international city with gambling as its economic pillar. Gold diggers and investors flocked to the city and became the most ordinary residents.
With the rapid expansion of the gambling economy in Mengla, which is only 2 kilometers away from the border of China, banning gambling has become as serious a problem as drug control in the border provinces of China.