[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index ][Thread Index ]

Bkk Post - Wa militia is main foe



Bangkok Post - Aug 26, 1999.
Wa militia is main foe, says army
Shan state township built on drug money

Wassana Nanuam

The Wa militia in Burma is the major obstacle in the fight against drugs,
the army chief-of-staff said yesterday.

Rangoon's approval for the United Wa State Army to develop Mong Yawn in Shan
state over the next five years would lead to greater drugs problems in
Thailand, Gen Charn Boonprasert told a seminar on the military's role in
drug suppression.

"Development of Mong Yawn will require a lot of money and the Burmese
government is not giving financial support for the task," he said. "The Wa
army will have to raise the funds by itself, mainly through narcotics."Gen
Charn is the first high-ranking army officer to go on the record identifying
the United Wa State Army as a major source of illegal drugs in Thailand.

His remark contradicts the UWSA's past claim its income was generated mainly
from precious stones.

He said the army wanted the closure of drug production bases in Burma, but
this could not be done without Rangoon's consent.

Gen Charn said the army lacks personnel to seal the border, of which 1,600km
are susceptible to drug gangs.

He said 200 million methamphetamine pills could be smuggled into Thailand
this year, and he suggested the government promote 853 villages along the
western border as drug-free areas. Before this can be tackled, the army has
to solve its own drug problems.

"More than 40% of conscripts were drug addicts, and we have to set an
example or villagers may not co-operate with us," Gen Charn said.

Kitti Limchaikit, deputy secretary-general of the Office of the Narcotics
Control Board, told the seminar that state officials, especially police
interrogators, were involved in trafficking.

"In the past, they wrote interrogation reports that were too weak to be
processed in court," he said. "Now, they take kickbacks from from arrested
suspects and put their drugs back on the market."