NEWS-New Group on Top in Southeast

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Subject: NEWS-New Group on Top in Southeast Asia's Golden Triangle

New Group on Top in Southeast Asia's Golden Triangle

               AP
               28-FEB-99

               LOI SAM SAO, Myanmar (AP) -- Cradling an assault rifle, a
               teen-age rebel sits at a guard post watching trucks
hauling
               consumer goods and construction material into
northeastern
               Myanmar over the dusty road from Thailand. 

               Across the border sits a Thai army command post that
               overlooks the hills of Southeast Asia's "Golden
Triangle," the
               region where experts say nearly half the world's heroin
is
               produced and then smuggled out to the streets of America
               and Europe. 

               The young rebel is the first line of contact between
outsiders
               and the United Wa State Army, one of the numerous ethnic
               groups not controlled by the central government of
Myanmar,
               also known as Burma. 

               "Welcome to the land of the Wa," Capt. Sadorn Sae-chang,
               the taciturn commander of the Wa army battalion in this
area,
               tells a journalist allowed a rare, brief visit. 

               A generation ago, the Wa were feared headhunters. Now,
               they are the world's largest producers of heroin and a
major
               supplier of amphetamines in East Asia. But a cozy
               arrangement with the Myanmar military government that
               allowed their rise is fraying, and the Wa are preparing
for
               war. 

               Sadorn and the 1,000 Wa soldiers positioned along this
part
               of the border are part of what the U.S. State Department
               calls "the world's biggest armed narcotics trafficking
               organization." 

               Thai officers monitoring the border say the Wa are
becoming
               the masters of the Golden Triangle, where the frontiers
of
               Myanmar, Laos and Thailand converge. 

               "They are definitely moving in that direction,
establishing a
               sound network with outsiders," said Thai Maj. Gen.
               Chamlong Phothong. "The pressure is on us to do
               something about it." 

               Thai officials and the State Department estimate about
1,900
               tons of raw opium were cultivated in the Triangle last
year,
               down from 2,300 tons the previous season, partly because
               of bad weather. About 10 kilograms of opium are needed to
               make a kilogram of heroin. 

               "The Wa are responsible for nearly half of this amount,"
said
               Sorasit Sangprasert, deputy chief of Thailand's Office of
the
               Narcotics Control Board. 

               The Wa filled a vacuum left by Khun Sa, the warlord who
               once ran the largest narcotics outfit in Myanmar at the
head
               of an army of ethnic Shan. Khun Sa surrendered to the
               government three years ago in exchange for amnesty and
               now lives in the capital, Yangon. 

               Wa fighters were once the foot soldiers of the
now-defunct
               Communist Party of Burma, whose insurgency sputtered out
               a decade ago. Soon after, they formed the United Wa State
               Army and worked out a cease-fire with the military
               government. 

               For Myanmar's army, the truce neutralized a rebel group
that
               had a weapons inventory large enough to last 10 years. 

               For the Wa, it was a green light to expand heroin
activities
               southward from their stronghold in Panghsang on the
               Chinese border, gaining additional smuggling routes
across
               the Thai and Chinese borders. Along the way, they clashed
               with Khun Sa, hastening his surrender. 

               But with Khun Sa out of the picture, the truce is losing
               appeal for the government, which would like to extend
               control over the troublesome border territory and the
ethnic
               groups it has fought for decades. 

               Tensions have risen over the past year, with the
government
               demanding that the Wa head back toward their old
               strongholds near China. The Wa, unwilling to lose heroin
               gateways through Thailand, have ignored the order and
               begun beefing up their supplies. 

               "We are not going to be like Khun Sa and surrender," said
               Sadorn, the Wa captain. "He is quite comfortable now, but
               his people are not." 

               The Myanmar government insists it is working with the Wa
to
               bring development to the area. Some Wa, however, suspect
               the roads being built in the hills will eventually bring
               Myanmar troops against them. 

               The government may think twice about tangling with the
Wa.
               The United Wa State Army is believed to be able to field
               20,000 fighters. Myanmar's army approaches 500,000 men,
               but its troops are committed throughout Myanmar. Some
               corrupt Myanmar troops are also believed to profit from
               letting the drug traffickers do business. 

               But the Wa could soon be squeezed on another side.
               Thailand, which has long relied on the ethnic militias as
a
               buffer against Myanmar, is feeling pressure to curb the
Wa. 

               Westerners see heroin as the biggest threat emanating
from
               the Golden Triangle, but for Thais and other Asians, it's
               something else -- cheaply produced amphetamines. 

               Use is exploding, from 250,000 amphetamine users in
               Thailand in 1995 to between 500,000 and 1 million today. 

               But as the fall of Khun Sa demonstrated, putting the Wa
out
               of business might just open the way for another armed
               group. 

               "We can't afford to destroy one drug network just to see
the
               problem pop up," said Sorasit, the Thai anti-drug
official.