Former drug trafficker and guerrilla leader Khun Sa has died in Burma, according to associates.
Sources say the 74 year old Khun Sa died in Rangoon earlier this week, and that his body was cremated today - Tuesday. He was believed to be suffering from diabetes and high blood pressure.
Khun Sa portrayed himself as a resistance fighter for the ethnic Shan minority as the leader of the Shan United Army, and later the Mong Tai Army.
His role overseeing the drug trade in the area where Burma, Thailand and Laos meet, known as the golden triangle, helped earn him the nickname the "Prince of Death."
U.S. narcotics officials estimate that in the 1980s, Khun Sa was responsible for at least half the heroin coming out of the region.
The United States offered a two million dollar reward for his arrest.
After years of fighting the Burmese military government, Khun Sa surrendered in 1996 and was allowed to live in Rangoon.
Information for this report is provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
