Dawn March 13th, ABSDF ( DAWN GWIN

[caroline@xxxxxxxxxx]

Subject: Dawn March 13th, ABSDF ( DAWN GWIN )

Khun Sa, Opium, and Slorc; the National Struggle in the Shan State 
 
	The announcement made at the beginning of January 1996, that 
Burma's opium warlord Khun Sa 
had surrendered to the country's ruling junta, the State Law and Order 
Restoration Council (Slorc), caught 
virtually all parties by surprise. Since his surrender it has become 
clear, as suggested by many Burma 
watchers over the years, that Khun Sa's departure will not change the 
opium situation in Burma. The 
reality that Burma supplies 50% of the world's heroin has never depended 
on one man, or one 
organization. In the United States, 60% of heroin sold on the streets 
originates from the Golden Triangle. 
The region has been a major focus of anti-narcotic agencies and 
governments for decades, with little 
apparent effect. it has been no secret that Khun Sa was involved in the 
drug business, but he can hardly 
have been thought to be acting alone. 
	The previous General Ne Win led governments, and the Slorc in 
turn, have approached the drug 
problem in Burma by playing a two-faced game. Requests from the West for 
support to eradicate drugs 
and do battle with Khun Sa on one side, and lucrative deals with drug 
kingpins on the other. Indeed, it is 
almost impossible to think that there has been no involvement by the 
junta in the opium trade; Burma's 
most lucrative cash crop. Given that Slorc have now secured  military 
cease-fires with all ethnic rebel 
groups where dependence on the opium economy has meant survival, the 
surrender of Khun Sa will 
ensure that the spotlight again goes back to Rangoon. But will it? 
	Since Khun Sa's surrender the Slorc have stated that they will 
remain a military presence and 
will control the territory previously held Khun Sa and his Mong Tai Army 
(MTA). Slorc has further 
promised that  there will be 70% reduction in the flow of heroin from 
Burma., now that the prime 
growing areas have "joined the legal fold." Time will tell. But given 
that the Slorc have repeatedly 
reiterated their hatred for the "notorious drugload Khun Sa," and that 
their past statements have ruled out 
both dialogue and any agreement  with him or with the MTA, such 
statements must be taken with more 
than a grain of salt. 
	The Shan people are not alone in their struggle with warlords, 
the Slorc, and with dependence on 
the opium economy. Other ethnic nationalities, such as the WA and Kokang, 
have long been involved in 
the cultivation of opium to fund their fight for independence from 
Rangoon. In the late 1980's, cease-fire 
agreements were made by both the Wa and Kokang with Rangoon. In both 
areas, the cultivation and sale 
of opium continues essentially unchanged. The Slorc used military force 
to drive both ethnic groups to 
sign these cease-fire agreement; no significant political settlements 
have been made. 
	For years the United States used Khun Sa as their bogeyman of the 
Golden Triangle; Khun Sa 
was public enemy number one. Other drugloads in the areas, meanwhile, 
have become more influential 
but have kept much lower profiles. Despite considerable evidence that 
other groups and individuals were 
involved in the multi-billion dollar industry, there were many who 
believed Khun Sa's capture would 
severely damage the flow of heroin. The logical next step was that 
working closely with the Slorc on anti-
narcotics activities was the only way to have an impact on the export of 
heroin. This position did not 
accept that the Shan people themselves, or the rank and file of the MTA, 
saw their struggle not as a drug 
war but as a national struggle for self-determination. There is now an 
uncomfortable silence from those 
who pushed to empower the Slorc. Anti-narcotic officials are now forced 
to admit that Khun Sa's 
surrender will likely have little or no impact on the flow of heroin. In 
1989 and  1992 indictments were 
handed down in New York Courts against Khun Sa. After his surrender, the 
Slorc announced that it 
would not hand him over  to US authorities for extradition and trial. The 
US responded by offering US$ 2 
million for any information leading to his arrest. According to sources 
in Rangoon, the last thing the 
authorities would  do is hand the drug baron over. This is for the simple 
reason that he knows far too 
much and would be in a position to expose too many influential people, 
including Slorc members, 
involved in the trade. 
	Recent reports published through wire agencies in Bangkok have 
revealed that Khun Sa has been 
paying a Burmese regional commander a monthly fee of 500,000 kyat a 
month. (The  black-market rate of 
exchange is 110 kyat to the dollar, the official is 6.4 kyat.) 
Apparently, in order to secure his surrender 
and peaceful retirement, a "large sum" of money was paid to a Burmese 
army General. Reports of this 
kind have not surfaced so openly in the last several years, but it is 
widely known that there are members of 
the authorities in Rangoon on the payroll of many drug traders, including 
those prominent past Kingpins, 
such as Lo Hseing Han. 
	As this writing, it's time to pick the opium harvest in Burma. 
Khun Sa is not there to send his 
men to pick, nor are the mule trains lined up to carry the crop through 
his territory to his refineries. What 
will happen with the thousands of tons of opium currently being picked by 
ethnic people, people who now 
depend entirely on the business Khun Sa, and others, have created? With 
other drug dealers only to ready 
to step in, it is unlikely this vast harvest will go to waste. For the 
Slorc, their apologists are stating that 
this is the time for them to show their sincerity about drug control. And 
indeed, it is. 
	Corrupt Generals are nothing new in Burma, but Slorc control of 
the Shan growing regions is 
new. it is now up to Slorc to turn off the heroin spigot, if this is 
their true intention. the world is waiting. 
If heroin continues to flow unabated onto the streets of New York, Los 
Angeles, and Rangoon, there will 
be only one culprit now. We can only hope the Khun Sa's departure wakes 
up all those concerned with the 
Golden Triangle heroin problem to its only real solution; an end to the 
political crisis in Burma. 
 
Faith Doherty, Southeast Asian Information Network