Faced with an increase in the amount of drugs being smuggled into the country, officials are seeking closer co-operation with foreign agencies Thailand is in the middle of a growing drug war, and is not only confronting the problem on the home front but is also battling it as far away as the Middle East and West Africa. But the man at the centre of the fight against the illicit drug trade, Police General Krisna Polananta, secretary-general of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB), concedes that despite the best efforts of government agencies and their foreign counterparts, the lucrative business is increasing. [continues 2616 words]
A recent US State Department report salutes Thailand's progress in shutting down international drug traffickers, but much remains to be done on the home front. Despite stepped up efforts at suppression by Burmese authorities, huge quantities of methamphetamines _ known in Thailand as ya ba (crazy drug) _ are still made in clandestine labs in Burma and smuggled into Thailand via the common border and through neighbouring countries. Intelligence sources say that most of the estimated 800 million ya ba tablets produced annually in Burma enter into Thailand. [continues 1538 words]
A Knowledgeable Source Claims That, Contrary To Common Belief, Opium Poppy Cultivation Has Increased In Some Areas Of Burma "I don't like drugs and addicts. They don't want to work and they commit crimes to fund their habit." These were the first words out of the mouth of Sai Kam (not his real name), who agreed to meet and tell "everything" about the drug business along the Thai-Burmese border. Sai Kam is an agent for an anti-narcotics group based in Nam Hkam in northern Shan State of Burma. There has been a significant increase in opium poppy cultivation between Nam Hkam and Kutkai areas in the past years because of the reduced output in Wa, Kokang and other regions of the state, he said. [continues 794 words]
The drug money is still flowing into the Wa capital, but pressure from China to curtail the illicit trade may be making the kingpins a little nervous "If we have any more opium here after 2005, you can come and chop my head off." This is the most famous statement of Pau Yu Chang, chairman of the United Wa State Army (UWSA), and the richest and most powerful Wa leader. A former member of the Communist Party of Burma (CPB), he reigns the Wa region with an iron fist, or more like a communist dictator. [continues 1331 words]
Despite opium poppy eradication programmes and tougher drug suppression methods in Thailand and China, heroin and methamphetamines continue to pour out of the Wa-controlled high country of northern Burma After a six-hour-long journey by taxi from Jinghong, the principal city of China's southern Yunnan province, we reached the border town of Mong Ah, where a bridge over the Namkam River separates it from Pangsang, the capital city of the Wa region in northern Burma. Along the road that cuts through mist-shrouded mountains dotted with hilltribe villages, we came across some luxury right-hand drive cars, including the expensive Mitsubishi Pajero and Honda SUV models, with number plates bearing the initials "NW", for North Wa. This is in sharp contrast to a small army of motorcycles, motorised rickshaws, and noisy tractors and trucks that were conspicuous in all the towns we passed through. Local villagers must be wondering what kind of business the Pajero drivers do to possess such expensive vehicles. [continues 1606 words]
