He is protected by a fierce army of former headhunters and has flouted the law for years despite a $2 million(1.4 million pound) price on his head. But now the most notorious drug baron in the Golden Triangle is a worried man.
Thai and Myanmar troops are massing on the fringes of the mountainous enclave where he built his billion-dollar narcotics fiefdom. Police have frozen his bank accounts in Thailand and impounded mansions, gold and luxury cars. And Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has vowed he will be captured "dead or alive".
The shadowy Wei Hsueh-Kang has faced defeat before, and survived. Military sources say he is taking no chances this time, stepping up security and keeping on the move in Myanmar's remote Shan hills. But the forces arrayed against him are closing in. The Thai army has moved thousands of troops to its northern border with Myanmar in the Golden Triangle region where much of the world's heroin and methamphetamines are produced. The deployment is ostensibly for exercises, but military sources say the move is a prelude for a strike against Wei. Thai newspapers say the army is "spoiling for a fight". But taking on Wei will be no easy task.
He commands a splinter faction of the United Wa State Army (UWSA), one of the world's biggest narco-armies. The "wild Wa", as they are known by other ethnic groups, were headhunters for centuries and only stopped decapitating rivals in the 1970s. Military sources say Wei commands at least 3,000 Wa troops with long experience of fighting in the region's rugged terrain. Analysts warn the Thai forces could come off second best.
The Wa agree, even boasting that if fighting broke out they could march into the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai. "Let the Thais know, we Wa, being poor, have nothing to lose but our lives. But Thailand, being rich, has everything to lose," one of Wei's officers was quoted as saying by a Shan news agency. "Once shooting starts, our people will be in Chiang Mai within the hour."
SHADOWY FIGURE
Little is known about Wei. The United States, which is offering $2 million for information leading to his arrest, says he was born in China on May 29, 1952 -- making him 50 next week. Wei's family fled to the Shan Hills when he was a child after the communist victory in China. Wei and his two brothers began their long drug career raising funds for the defeated Chinese Kuomintang by selling heroin -- a beginning many have speculated was assisted by the Central Intelligence Agency which they say secretly backed the drug trade.
Wei was allied for a time with Khun Sa, the region's top druglord in the 1980s, and forged close links with the Wa. With the huge profits from trafficking drugs through Thailand, Wei bought off Thai military and police officials. He was granted Thai citizenship in 1985 and adopted a Thai alias. Wei was arrested in 1988 after the seizure of a boat off the Thai coast carrying 680 kg of heroin, but jumped bail and fled in 1990. A Thai court sentenced him to death in absentia in 1993.
After his escape he joined forces with the UWSA, which emerged in the 1980s when the Communist Party of Burma splintered along ethnic lines. Unlike the communists, the UWSA shunned ideology in favour of something more profitable -- drugs. The ethnic army signed a peace deal with Myanmar's ruling junta in 1989, granting them almost complete autonomy.
The UWSA supplanted druglord Khun Sa as the main producer of heroin in the Golden Triangle, with Wei playing a key role. He also got involved early in the production of methamphetamines, which became another lucrative plank of the UWSA economy. Drug money distorted the Thai economy and bought off police, military and civil service officials. Even after jumping bail, Wei often travelled freely between Thailand and Myanmar. Anti-drug officials despaired of ever catching him. His tentacles extended through Thailand's police and military and he had close links with powerful businessmen. But the tables have suddenly turned.
UNDER FIRE
Thaksin's government swept to power last year pledging to put the fight against drugs among its top priorities. The influx of methamphetamine pills has become a national obsession -- officials say up to a billion pills of the stimulant flood Thailand each year, corrupting the social fabric. People across the social spectrum are addicted, from schoolchildren to monks.
Myanmar has repeatedly pledged to help crack down on drug production, but analysts say its tottering economy is dependent on drug money and the junta has no wish to risk upsetting the UWSA. So Thailand decided to target Wei directly.
Thai police have mounted a series of raids to seize the assets of Wei and his allies. Cash, shares, land and jewellery worth more than 340 million baht have been captured. More worryingly still for Wei, there are increasing signs that Myanmar's military government and powerful figures in the UWSA have turned against him and want to bring him down.
The UWSA is split into several factions. Anti-drug officials say key Wa leaders have grown increasingly worried about Wei's power and influence. Myanmar, desperate to improve its image to get crippling sanctions lifted, has told Thailand it will close the businesses that act as a front for Wei's drug empire.
Thai military sources say Myanmar's junta has given the green light for a joint strike against Wei. Myanmar troops are reported to be surrounding Wei's positions. Fresh skirmishes erupted this week between Thai troops and UWSA forces at the border. Analysts say there is little chance of Myanmar's government ever cracking down on the UWSA. But the junta -- with the connivance of UWSA leaders -- may have decided to bring down Wei to improve is image and its frayed relations with Thailand.