Pubdate: Sun, 30 Nov 2003 Source: Straits Times (Singapore) Copyright: 2003 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. Contact: http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/429 Author: Nirmal Ghosh THAI POLICE LAUNCH 'FINAL' BLITZ ON DRUGS The Crackdown Is Aimed At Securing A Largely Drug-Free Thailand By The King's Birthday Next Week BANGKOK - Thai police have launched what they called a 'final assault' on illegal drugs, aimed at wiping out most of the trade by next week. Raids were launched on nearly 600 locations in Bangkok and eight northern provinces on Thursday, electronic sensors have been set up at the Myanmar border to fight drug smuggling and fresh troops have been sent to patrol the area.Advertisement More than 3,000 drug enforcers raided several locations in and around Bangkok on Thursday, concentrating on the poor communities of the Klong Toey port area, long known as a centre for illegal drugs. Police arrested 121 people. The government plans to declare the country 'drug-free' on King Bhumibol Adulyadej's 74th birthday on Dec 5, though officials admit that it is not possible to eradicate drug use. 'No country will be able to completely stamp out drugs from its society,' Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said this week. 'What we are doing is to limit the amount of drugs to a controllable level.' He said the drug problem had already been curbed significantly, to a degree where drug money no longer had the potential to destabilise the country. On Wednesday, the authorities incinerated some 19 million methamphetamine pills, plus marijuana, heroin, ketamine and Ecstasy - totalling an estimated 2.9 billion baht (S$125 million). US Drug Enforcement Administration regional director William Snipes, who was present, said the war on drugs had been effective but 'whether that is a lasting effect, we will have to wait and see'. 'Temporarily, we look at it as successful.' The authorities have also installed electronic sensors on the Myanmar border near the northern cities of Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai and beefed up troop numbers and border patrols aimed at stemming the flow of drugs - mostly 'yaba' or methamphetamines - from Myanmar. Police also raided almost 400 locations across Thailand's northern provinces, arresting 67 people. Arrest warrants have been issued against more than 900 suspects, reports said. The government plans to mark next Wednesday with a formal declaration that the war on drugs has been won and that Thailand is largely drug-free. Earlier this year, more than 2,000 people were killed in the first phase of the government's controversial crackdown. Most were street-level traffickers, but some were innocents caught in the crossfire. Police claimed that while many had been killed in gunfights, most were victims of internecine gang wars spawned by police pressure. However, local and foreign human rights activists claimed that many had been summarily executed by police - an accusation angrily rejected by Mr Thaksin. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens