When a major government designates a business as a front for organized crime, the accused normally go into hiding and tell their lawyers to get ready.
But the King’s Romans Casino in Laos proves that normal rules of criminal behavior don’t always apply to Southeast Asia.
At the end of January 2018, the United States Treasury Department sanctioned Kings Romans, its owner, Zhao Wei, and the “Zhao Wei Transnational Crime Organization,” alleging the casino was used to launder money and traffic drugs, among other serious crimes.
Zhao has been accused of operating with near impunity inside a Laotian special economic zone, a strategic location with limited oversight. The casino sits right next door to Myanmar and Thailand, a border area called the Golden Triangle notorious for its role in the global drug trade.
