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"Yaba" Comes to Thailand Also from



Subject: "Yaba" Comes to Thailand Also from Northern Burma: 

30 July 1999 

"Yaba" Comes to Thailand Also from Northern Burma

Wednesday, 28 July.
According to SHAN reporter in the north, amphetamines plaguing Thai society
are
not produced only across the border from Thailand but also far up in the north
near the Chinese border. 

"Two years ago, the horse pills (popular name for amphetamines) were imported
to the Mao Valley (northernmost Shan State) from east of the Salween", sources
told SHAN. "But now they are being produced in the villages and forest just
around here". 

The source cited one factory just 50 miles southeast of Muse, the border town
opposite Ruili, Yunan Province, China, operated by a group of Chinese in
Tarknai village, Tima Tract. The area was reported to be under the control
Kachin Independence Army, a ceasefire group. Another factory is in nearby
Mongko, operated by Kokang Chinese. 

>From Muse, now heart of the Mao Valley, amphetamines are imported into China
and to lower Burma. 

"In Mandalay, the price is US$ 4,000 - 5,000 per kilo. In Rangoon, it becomes
US$ 8,000 - 10,000. From there, you can transport it by boat and enter
Thailand
through various channels like the Three Pagoda Pass (across from Kanjanaburi
Province) and Kawsawng (opposite Ranong)", whispered the source. 

Asked about the role of the authorities, he replied, "The CCDAC (the junta's
anti-narcotics agency) can catch only small try. Even some of them complained
about not being able to touch the big ones without explicit orders from
above".


He added, "Even the UN and NGO people, who frequent Muse, know this. It's just
an open secret". 

/// END \\\ 
For further information, please contact S.H.A.N. at: 
Shan Herald Agency for News. 
P.O. Box. 15 
Nonghoi P.O., 50007 
Chiangmai 
Thailand 
Ph/Fax: (053) 807 121 
e-mail: <shan@xxxxxxxxxxxx>