Myanmar police watch people of Thon Min Yar village, ground zero for drug trade

In this Feb 20, 2013 photo, an ethnic Lisu man looks out of his house as Myanmar police officers watch a gathering of villagers in Thon Min Yar village, central Shan state, Myanmar. Far from Myanmar’s postcard-perfect pagodas and colonial relics, the remote mountain villages of southern Shan State do not appear on maps of Myanmar or in any guide books. In obscurity, they have been ground zero for Myanmar’s drug trade which has thrived on poverty and corruption.

In this Feb 22, 2013 photo, Myanmar army officers patrol close to Mong Pan village, central Shan state, Myanmar. <AP Photo/NEWSis/Gemunu Amarasinghe>