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Bkk post - Old hands cash in on dru



Reply-To: "TIN KYI" <tinkyi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Bkk post - Old hands cash in on drug purge

Bangkok Post - Nov 11, 1999.
Old hands cash in on drug purge
Producers exploit border vigilance

Subin Khuenkaew and Nusara Thaitawat

Strict measures against drug smuggling across the Thai-Burmese border over
the past year have prompted "old hands" inside Thailand to re-launch their
old business, informed sources said.

However, methamphetamine concentrate which requires the skills of a
professional chemist and a stable laboratory condition, is still produced
outside the country and smuggled in, sources said.

"We're still trying to determine the sources and smuggling routes of this
concentrate, whether it is still just outside the northern border in Burma
or other countries," said a source.

Armed ethnic minority groups in Burma, especially the United Wa State Army,
the biggest drug organisation in the Golden Triangle, are still very much in
business but trying to open new smuggling routes.

Although many so-called home laboratories had been raided in recent months
in and around Bangkok, they were only capable of mixing the concentrate with
other ingredients, such as sugar, then pressing the mixture into tablets,
the source said.

He confirmed that a number of old hands in Thailand, mostly Thai nationals,
who have been watched by the Office of Narcotics Control Board and the
Narcotic Suppression Bureau are making a comeback.

"These people used to produce illicit drugs in the country.

"They were forced to become wholesalers in Thailand after producers in
neighbouring countries managed to produce at a cheaper price.

"The government's crackdown has given them the opportunity to make a
comeback and it looks like they are now in direct competition with producers
in Burma," said the source.

Lt-Gen Wattanachai Chaimuanwongse, commander of the Third Army, said in
Chiang Mai that in certain cases, the funding for local production came from
drug bosses outside the country.

"Drug dealers are still adjusting. While some with links in Thailand have
started local production, they still continue to produce in their country."