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CNN: 70 PERCENT OF WORLD'D HEROIN A
Subject: CNN: 70 PERCENT OF WORLD'D HEROIN ARE FROM BURMA
WorldView
Opium Trade Integral Part of Myanmar Civil War
Aired December 26, 1998 - 6:13 p.m. ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL
FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MARINA KOLBE, CNN ANCHOR: Western drug experts estimate
70 percent of
the world's heroin comes from the so-called Golden
Triangle. That is an area
which includes parts of Laos, Thailand and Myanmar, the
country formerly
known as Burma.
CNN's Riz Khan takes a closer look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RIZ KHAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The mountainous
territory on
the Thai-Myanmar border, one of the sides of the infamous
Golden Triangle.
What seems to be harmless vegetation here is actually a
deadly crop; poppy
plants are the source of opium, the raw material used in
the production of
heroin. The effort to destroy the crop can be
challenging, given that the area is
also fertile group for rebel groups fighting the Myanmar
government. The Shan
State Army is one of a handful of armed insurgent groups
that has not signed a
cease-fire pact with the military administration in Yangon.
From his jungle hideout, the commander of the SSA spoke
recently about the
drugs problem. Colonel Yod Suk says the Shan people and
other ethnic
minorities have been forced into opium cultivation by the
actions of the
Myanmar military.
COL. YOD SUK, SHAN STATE ARMY (through translator): They
need
permanent plots of land to grow rice and other crops, and
they don't have them.
People in the Shan state have turned to growing poppy
because it takes a short
time, or a few months to harvest, and they can shift the
location of opium fields
in the jungles.
KHAN: Yod Suk was a close aide of the former drug warlord
Khun Sa (ph),
who's now surrendered to the Myanmar government and is
living in Yangon. The
rebel leader says Shan state has produced more than 2,000
tons of heroin in
1998. That's enough to make about 200,000 kilograms of
pure heroin. The
United States is leading the fight against drugs.
WILLIAM SIMPSON, U.S. DRUG ENFORCEMENT AGENCY: Our
intelligence
here in Southeast Asia indicate that there is a large
amount of heroin leaving
Southeast Asia. Now where is it going? That's what we're
here working on. We
know that heroin comes through Thailand, and it goes --
from Thailand it could
go to Laos, into Vietnam, and then either into Europe, or
from Europe into the
United States. KHAN: The Americans have pumped in
millions of dollars to
assist the drug-fighting efforts of the Thai and Myanmar
militaries. For rebels
like Yod Suk, this represents a wasted effort. He's
calling on the U.S.
government to cooperate with his rebels to stamp out the
trade. There's no
evidence Washington is willing to take up that offer.
Riz Khan, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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