AFP-Thai army and police sweep nort

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Subject: AFP-Thai army and police sweep northern drug routes

Thai army and police sweep northern drug routes
BANGKOK, July 15 (AFP) - Thailand on Thursday launched a combined military
and police sweep of drug trafficking routes on its northern border with
Myanmar, vowing "no more compromise" with drug lords.
Security officials said 800 officers, backed by air and artillery support,
would target armed drug gangs along a 40-kilometer (24.8 mile) stretch of
the border in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai provinces.

"This decisive measure means killing armed drugs smugglers if we find them,"
said Khachadpai Burusapatana, secretary-general of the Office of the
National Security Council.

He said the smuggling gangs, suspected of being based with the Wa ethnic
minority army across the border in Myanmar, were violating Thailand's
sovereignty.

"There will be no more compromise," he said.

The area forms part of the rich opium-growing region known as the Golden
Triangle, where much of the world's heroin originates.

Thai officials have accused Myanmar authorities of failing to adequately
control border areas. They say the roofs of amphetamine factories are
clearly visible from the Thai side.

Myanmar is also repeatedly criticised by the United States and the
international community for allegedly allowing rebellious ethnic minorities
to run drug operations in return for ceasefire agreements.

Recent Thai efforts to eradicate poppy fields have resulted in a dramatic
upsurge in amphetamine production in the Golden Triangle.

Cheap amphetamines, known in Thailand as "ya ba" (crazy drug), have flooded
Thai towns and cities and led to a rapid rise in addiction, crime and
violence especially among young people.

The area has been the scene of a number of firefights between Thai security
forces and drug runners in recent months and is on the US government's list
of unsafe areas for officials and tourists.

The US embassy has been advising US citizens to avoid areas of Chiang Mai
and Chiang Rai after US anti-narcotics agents were threatened with
kidnapping earlier this year.

Thai special forces ambushed a gang of armed drug traffickers in Chiang Mai
on Friday as they returned from Myanmar with a stash of amphetamines,
killing two and recovering more than a million pills.

Several weeks ago Thai police shot dead seven men in a gun fight in Chiang
Rai, finding an estimated one million amphetamine tablets.

Nearly 200,000 Thai students are addicted to illicit narcotics and 13
provinces have reached a critical stage in the fight against drug abuse,
Thai officials said earlier this year.

Amphetamines loom as the most dangerous drug threat for students, with 75
percent of addicts using them, while 18 percent used heroin.