BURMESE JUNTA HAS FIRM TIES WITH DR

[BurmaWatch@xxxxxxx]

Subject: BURMESE JUNTA HAS FIRM TIES WITH DRUG ARMY

BORDER

 Junta firms ties with
 drug army
BANGKOK POST 10/31/99
 Security chief at base during embassy siege

 Nusara Thaitawat and Subin Khuenkaew, Chiang Rai

 Burma's intelligence chief Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt was with drug kingpin Wei
 Hsueh-kang of the United Wa State Army on Oct 1, when five dissident
 students occupied the Burmese embassy in Bangkok demanding an end to
 military rule.

 Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt was inspecting the construction of Wei's new
 headquarters at "46", opposite Ban San Ma Ked in Mae Fa Luang district,
 a reliable source said.

 "His presence in '46' underlines the close ties between Rangoon and Wei,
 and the importance Rangoon attaches to development projects being
 undertaken by Wei and the UWSA," said the source, with contacts on both
 sides of the border.

 Wei has become the most powerful drug kingpin in the Golden Triangle,
 where the borders of Burma, Laos, and Thailand meet, since Khun Sa of
 the Mong Tai Army capitulated in January 1996.

 Millions of methamphetamine pills produced by Wei's group flood the Thai
 market each month. Heroin makes its way to the US, sources said.

 Wei is wanted by Thai and US authorities on separate drug trafficking
 charges.

 Other UWSA brigades also produce illicit drugs, but keep a low profile,
 anti-narcotic sources said.

 On Oct 1, Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt also visited Tachilek, opposite Mae Sai, an
 important trading point between Thailand and Burma, before the border
 was ordered closed after the Bangkok embassy siege.

 The visit was part of a regular tour of border towns under development.

 The intelligence chief inspected Mong Yawn, opposite Ban San Ton Du,
 Mae Ai district, Chiang Mai, in July. He took a first hand look at the
 massive infrastructure development, estimated to be worth at least one
 billion baht, being undertaken there by the UWSA's 894th Brigade under
 the command of Wei Xai-tang (not related to Wei Hsueh-kang).

 Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt is seen in a video, obtained by the Bangkok Post,
 pointing at different construction sites and asking questions, with local
 commanders of the UWSA surrounding him.

 The Burmese government has been accused by the US of condoning drug
 trafficking by armed ethnic minority groups, and of harboring drug fugitives.
 Rangoon has claimed it is doing its utmost to fight illicit drugs and that 
its
 way of dealing with the problem is more practical than Washington's failed
 measures.

 At the 10th anniversary celebration of the founding of the United Wa State
 Party (UWSP) and UWSA, the leadership announced that all areas under
 their control would be drug free within five years. Thai border officials and
 villagers refer to Wei's 46th Brigade and its new headquarters simply as
 "46" and the village traditionally known as Ban Hong which is being
 developed for the brigade's dependents as "muang mai".

 Wei's 46th Brigade was until last May the UWSA's 361st Brigade based in
 Mong Yawn. Initial reports of the renaming of Wei's brigade and transfer
 of troops from Mong Yawn to Ban Hong led to speculation of a split
 between Wei and the newcomer 894th Brigade. The 894th was sent to the
 Thai-Burmese border by the party's headquarters in Pangsanh under an
 agreement with Rangoon to topple Khun Sa. Wei's soldiers had been based
 in the area since the 1980s, when he began to challenge Khun Sa's control
 over the drug trade in the Golden Triangle. The half-Shan, half-Chinese
 charismastic Khun Sa had commanded the strongest anti-Rangoon ethnic
 army from his headquarters in Ho Mong, opposite Muang district, Mae
 Hong Son. He controlled the strategic Doi Lang mountain range, of which
 Mong Yawn is part, and referred to the area as his "backdoor".

 It is widely understood Rangoon promised the UWSA Khun Sa's territory
 in exchange for toppling him. Earlier this year, Rangoon extended for
 another five years its agreement with the UWSA to develop Mong Yawn
 and nearby areas.