SCMP-Junta 'let tribe open narcotic

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Subject: SCMP-Junta 'let tribe open narcotics factory in return for

fighting rebels'
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South China Morning Post - July 21, 1999.
Wednesday, July 21, 1999

Junta 'let tribe open narcotics factory in return for fighting rebels'
BURMA by WILLIAM BARNES

Thai intelligence sources on the border with Burma believe Burmese narcotics
traders from the Wa tribe are in the process of setting up a "branch
operation".
The site opposite the Thai town of Mae Sot is about halfway between the Wa's
Shan state heartland and the port of Moulmein - far beyond their area of
operations.

The Burmese military wants the tough Wa fighters to keep what remains of the
ethnic Karen rebels suppressed, say the sources.

In return they will be allowed to run bus services and an amphetamine plant
near Mae Sot. The profits would be shared between the Wa, the Burmese army
and a group of pro-Rangoon Karen.

The Phuchatkan Thai daily recently claimed high-ranking Thai officials had
already been lined up to help move the amphetamines across the border.

None of this can be confirmed, but similar, if less detailed, stories have
circulated before.

Many Thai officials are sincerely determined to combat the Burmese drug
menace, but there is deep scepticism about the effectiveness of many
high-profile security deployments.

Narcotics traffickers like the Wa appear to have little to fear from the
Burmese army and the border is easily breached.