Pubdate: Mon, 31 Oct 2005
Source: Nation, The (Thailand)
Copyright: 2005 Nation Multimedia Group
Contact:  http://www.nationmultimedia.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1963

METH IN THEIR MADNESS?

It will take more than the arrest of one drug lord to convince the
world that Burma has kicked its habit Something is cooking in the
Burmese sector of the Golden Triangle, but the verdict is still out on
what any of it means for the future of the country's opium politics
and insurgencies.

The latest development was the arrest of Ta Pan, a relative of Bao
Yu-xiang, supreme leader of one of Burma's ceasefire groups, the
United Wa State Army (UWSA), who was caught transporting 496 kilograms
of heroin.

The fact that the Burmese authorities arrested Ta Pan is significant
in itself, given that he is the powerful commander of the Mong
Yawn-based 2518th Independent Regiment.

In Burma's scheme of things, such an act could easily be translated as
an act of war. For most of the last half century, gun-toting opium
warlords, ethnic armies and the Burmese military have roamed the north
of the country at will, carving out territories and spheres of
influence where everybody plays for keeps.

While it is unlikely that the military government of Burma will hold
the UWSA responsible for Ta Pan's alleged crimes, security officials
along the border are suggesting that the junta is drifting into a
territory that could mean confrontation.

It is an open secret that the Wa and the Burmese junta dislike each
other intensely. Ever since the two sides entered a ceasefire
agreement in 1989, analysts have warned that the foundation for their
cooperation rests on shaky ground. It is a marriage of convenience and
sooner or later, it has always been assumed, the Wa's criminal
activities will catch up with them. This is not to say that the record
of the Burmese is all that clean either. The generals in Rangoon have
been accused of turning a blind eye to the Wa's illicit activities in
return for kickbacks.

The real question Thai observers want answered is, why now? Why is
Rangoon suddenly willing to play hardball with the UWSA?

Is Rangoon trying to please the international community, or perhaps
win some brownie points from Washington, its No. 1 critic? Earlier
this year, a US Federal Court charged Bao and seven of his lieutenants
in the UWSA with drug trafficking. One of the Wa commanders, Wei
Hsueh-kang, has a US$25 million reward on his head.

While Rangoon should be complimented for taking legal action against
Ta Pan, it would be premature to think that this in any way marks a
turning point in Burma's responsibility to its people and the world
community to stem the flow of illicit drugs across its borders.

However, this is not to say that responsible states should be
complacent in their efforts to tackle the demand side of the equation.
Thailand, one of the major consumers of the Wa's methamphetamines,
should place more emphasis on education, poverty and other social
aspects of the issue rather then simply looking at the drug problem as
a criminal matter.

China, meanwhile, is said to be tightening controls on chemicals used
for producing illegal drugs. The communist giant has finally
acknowledged that Chinese-made raw materials are flooding into
Southeast Asia.

"The amount of precursor chemicals smuggled into the Golden Triangle
area is startling," said a report issued by China's National Narcotics
Control Commission. New regulations, due to take effect next month,
will strictly regulate the production, purchase and transportation of
chemicals used to make illicit drugs.

Rangoon has for years given the world the cold shoulder whenever it
has been accused of not doing enough to curb the production of drugs
within its borders.

True, opium output has declined significantly, but the boom in
methamphetamines and other laboratory-produced drugs is making up for
the losses. Surely the Wa and the Rangoon junta can't expect the world
to praise them for giving up poppy cultivation and fail to say
anything about the other illicit drugs replacing opium.

The arrest of Ta Pan should be understood in the context of Burma's
politics of opium and insurgencies. For the past decade, since the
fall of Khun Sa and his Mong Tai Army, Rangoon has never hesitated to
pit the UWSA against the Shan nationalists or Thai security forces
along the border. It has been like a proxy war, being played out by
two neighbours whose history is painted with mistrust.

Some observers think that as long as the Shan rebels are still active,
Rangoon will always see a need for the Wa, so plucking Ta Pan out of
the picture will not create a lasting vacuum in the UWSA leadership. 
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