Burma?s contraband trade flourishes in a floating market... "Beyond prying eyes on shore, the dark waters of the Andaman Sea off the island-dotted coast of southeast Burma?s Mon State frequently host a bizarre night market. Scores of fishing vessels line up side by side, switch on their neon lights and begin buying and selling. The crews and vessel owners trade in everything from women to Mercedes Benz cars. Most of the trade is coming into Burma illegally, but the most prized commodity is outgoing—drugs. Despite claims by the junta that it is curbing opium and methamphetamine production, and an acknowledgement by the US State Department that poppy growing in Burma is today less than 20 percent of mid-1990s levels, Burmese drug manufacturing is still a multi-million dollar-a-year business. Burma remains the world?s second-largest opium producer, after Afghanistan, and last year processed about 380 tonnes, said a State Department report earlier this year..."