And the hunt for it is so deadly, the jewel is known as blood jade.

ダイヤモンドよりも希少な石。

The hills in Myanmar's Kachin state hold nearly all of it.

その狩りは命がけだ、

Every year, dozens of miners are buried and killed by landslides.

この宝石は "血の翡翠 "として知られている。

But what really goes on here has mostly remained a mystery, because the mines are guarded by the military 24-7.

ミャンマー・カチン州の丘陵地帯

So we had to film on a phone.

そのほぼすべてを握っている。

Reports suggest Chinese companies illegally operate the mines and allegedly exploit desperate workers.

毎年だ、

About 90% of the jade mined here is smuggled across the border into China, where it's considered a sacred stone.

数十人の坑夫が埋められた

We went to the mountains of Myanmar to find out how the hunt for a jewel that legend says grants eternal life has killed so many people.

土砂崩れで死亡した。

Black markets usually come to life after dark, because jade is believed to shine brightest in the moonlight.

しかし、実際には何が起こっているのか？

Most sales aren't documented or taxed.

はほとんど謎のままである、

But if the gem was sold legally, Myanmar could earn an estimated $31 billion a year.

鉱山は軍が24時間体制で警備しているからだ。

Reports suggest many buyers come from neighboring China, even though selling to foreigners is against the law.

だから携帯電話で撮影するしかなかった。

In the daytime, about 400,000 people work in mines in the Pekant region, in northern

報道によれば、中国企業は

Myanmar's Kachin state.

鉱山の違法操業

Many Chinese companies bribe officials to illegally operate here.

そして、絶望的な労働者から搾取していると言われている。

They dump back topsoil after picking out large stones, and they let miners dig through it.

ナレーターここで採掘されるヒスイの約90％は

Thirty-eight-year-old Thant has mined here for seven years.

は国境を越えて中国に密輸される、

About 75% of miners here are addicted to drugs like heroin and meth.

神聖な石とされている。

Thant says he'd never tried those drugs before coming here.

ミャンマーの山へ行った

Now he shoots up multiple times a day.

伝説の宝石探しの軌跡を探る。

He says some of his Chinese bosses paid portions of his salary with free meals and heroin.

永遠の命を持つ巨人は、多くの人々を殺してきた。

He asked us to hide his identity because he feared his employers would retaliate.

闇市はたいてい日が暮れると活気づく、

These claims can be hard to verify because most of the mining happening here is illegal.

翡翠が信じられているから

Not a single mining permit has been issued since a military coup in 2021.

月明かりの中で最も輝く。

The region has seen violent conflict since the early 1960s.

ほとんどの売上は文書化されておらず、課税もされていない。

The Kachin people who are native to these mountains have been fighting for independence.

しかし、その宝石が合法的に販売されたものであれば、その宝石は合法的に販売されたことになる、

They have their own army known as the KIA, which has been battling the Myanmar armed forces and other ethnic groups.

ミャンマーは年間推定310億ドルを稼ぐことができる。

The war has killed thousands of Kachin civilians in the past decade alone.

近隣の中国からの購入者が多いとの報道もある、

We reached out to the KIA and the Myanmar military, but did not get a response.

外国人への販売は法律違反であるにもかかわらず。

The conflict has allowed lawlessness to run rampant, as well as the illegal drug trade, which has become a multi-billion-dollar industry across the country.

ナレーター昼間は、

Myanmar is the world's biggest producer of opium and meth.

約40万人が鉱山で働く

Drugs from here are trafficked to China and nearby countries.

ヒパカント地方にて

The profits are fueling the Kachin War.

ミャンマー北部のカチン州にある。

And jade mining is funding it, too.

多くの中国企業が役人に賄賂を贈る

Most of the jade from Myanmar gets smuggled to China, where the stone has been thought to bring good luck and to have healing powers for millennia.

ここで不法に活動するためだ。

Legend says this stone could make their souls live on forever.

表土を埋め戻す

It has also been found buried alongside royals in ancient tombs.

大きな石を選んでから、

Today, China's wealthiest wear jade as a symbol of status and power.

鉱夫たちにその中を掘らせた。

Chinese businesses reportedly pay Myanmar locals up to $400,000 per trip to smuggle trucks of jade into the country.

38歳のタントはここで7年間採掘を続けている。

The gem's price grew tenfold in the first decade of the 2000s.

ナレーターここの鉱山労働者の約75％が中毒になっている。

And it's still growing exponentially, according to the most recent estimates.

ヘロインやメスのようなドラッグに。

There is a cheaper kind called nephrite that's widely sold in Chinatowns around the world.

タントはそのような薬は試したことがないと言っている

But Myanmar's Kachin state is one of the only places that has jadeite, which is especially green and transparent.

ここに来る前にね。

So rare that a single bangle can sell for over $3 million.

今では1日に何度も注射を打っている。

Estimates have found that the Kachin Mountains hold about 90% of it.

彼の中国人の上司の何人かはポーションを支払っていたという。

But they're hollowing out.

彼の給料のうち、タダ飯とヘロイン。

Miners like Shwetak search for what's left.

彼は身元を隠すよう我々に頼んだ、

He uses a pocket light to check for a hint of green.

雇用主からの報復を恐れたからだ。

Dozens get buried alive or drown because of landslides each year.

ナレーターこのような主張の検証は難しい、

In 2020, a single landslide killed about 200 miners.

ここで行われている採掘のほとんどは違法だからだ。

But Shwetak says mining is his only option.

採掘許可は一件も出ていない

He came out as a transgender man seven years ago, and has struggled to find jobs ever since.

2021年の軍事クーデター以来である。

Myanmar is one of the hardest countries to find employment for people who identify as LGBTQ.

この地域では激しい紛争が続いている。

A nationwide law makes it legal to arrest people who openly express their gender identity.

1960年代初頭から。

He says he still looked too much like a woman when he started mining here.

この山々に住むカチン族の人々

Few women work in these mines.

独立のために戦ってきた。

Some have spoken out about sexual abuse by miners and soldiers.

彼らはKIAと呼ばれる独自の軍隊を持っている、

Shwetak says other men treated him well, and today, many have become close friends.

ミャンマー武装勢力と戦っている。

But over the years, Thant has lost many of his.

と他の民族グループ。

He lives in a hut in a cemetery where some of them were buried.

ナレーター戦争で数千人が死んだ

He moved here from a town nearly 300 years ago.

過去10年間だけで、カチン族の民間人が犠牲になった。

He was 300 miles away after his family's house burned down.

KIAとミャンマー軍に接触した

He promised his wife and children he'd return rich and rebuild their home.

しかし、返事はなかった。

He says the drugs help numb the pain.

紛争は無法を許した