Wei Hsueh-kang, also known by various other names, is a Chinese-born business tycoon and drug trafficker wanted by the United States and Thailand for illegally trafficking drugs in New York and Southeast Asia's Golden Triangle. He is also a regional commander of the United Wa State Army, the armed forces of the de facto independent Wa State in Myanmar. Pseudonyms During his career as a drug trafficker, Wei adopted several pseudonyms to evade capture by authorities. His pseudonyms include Wu Xingwen, Prasit Cheewinnitipanya, Charnchai Cheevinnitipanya, and Suchat Phanloetkun, among others. Early life According to his Thai documents, Wei Hsueh-kang was born in 1945 in Yunnan, China. However, the United States Department of State gives Wei's date of birth as 29 May 1952. After the Communist victory in the Chinese Civil War in 1949, Wei fled from mainland China to Burma (present-day Myanmar) with his father, who was then a member of the Kuomintang supported by the CIA. Wei helped his father sell opium, in part to fund the Kuomintang's insurgency in mainland China, until his graduation from high school, upon which he joined a militia led by the drug lord Khun Sa. Career As an insurgent Wei followed the leadership of Khun Sa for two decades, first as a member of Khun Sa's personal militia and then as a member of the Mong Tai Army (MTA). After falling out of favour with Khun Sa in the mid-1980s, Wei left the MTA and began to work with the Wa military leader Bao Youxiang. Wei and Bao were among the founders of the United Wa State Party (UWSP) in 1989, the latter eventually becoming its leader. Bao subsequently made Wei a regional commander of the party's armed wing, the United Wa State Army (UWSA). As a drug trafficker Wei is believed to have remained closely associated with Khun Sa even after he left the MTA, especially during the height of opium production in the Golden Triangle. He is wanted by the United States' Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs for drug offences committed in New York; there is a US$2 million reward for information leading to his capture and arrest. Wei is currently believed to be residing in Myanmar, likely within the UWSA-controlled territory of Wa State. Although Wei was granted Thai citizenship in 1985, three years later in 1988 he was facing a sentence of life imprisonment by the