Drugs and Burma: general links, reports and articles
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Description:
Wa drug lords dodge US legal action...
"Legal action taken in New York against a suspected Wa drugs lord and seven fugitive members of his gang appears to have done nothing to dent the success of their business ventures in Burma.
Wei Hsueh-kang and his comrades control the Hong Pang group of companies, which are involved in jewelry and gems, communications, electrical goods, agriculture, mining, textiles and large construction projects...For decades ethnic suppression, opium wars, narcotics and the Shan separatists and pro-democracy movements have created a complex patchwork of problems, which many believe have only one solution.
Khuensai Jaiyen, editor of the Shan Herald News Agency, summed it up: ?Without democratic change there is no solution to the drug problem. Democracy, development and an end to the flow of narcotics are all linked.?"
Tom Fawthrop
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" Vol. 13, No. 4
Date of publication:
2005-03-31
Date of entry/update:
2006-04-27
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Arrest of ?narcotics informant? raises many questions...
"A wealthy 60-year-old Wa businessman who reportedly worked for US and Thai anti-narcotics squads is sitting in a northern Thai remand cell, accused of being heavily involved in drugs trafficking.
Maha Seng—scion of a leading family in Shan State, former Wa prince, anti-communist fighter, founder of the Wa National Army and vice chairman of Burma?s National Democratic Front armed ethnic alliance—was arrested in Chiang Mai in early April.
Maha Seng?s capture came shortly after an arrest warrant was issued by a provincial court in Mae Hong Son, the mountain resort town close to the Thai-Burma border region where he reportedly had free rein as an operative, providing information to Thai and US anti-drugs agencies.
Relatives and associates of Maha Seng are asking themselves why an apparently valuable anti-drugs operative has been removed from the arena at such a critical stage of the fight against drugs-trafficking. Was his cover blown deliberately or accidentally? Was he betrayed? Is he guilty of using his special status to make money from a dirty business he was employed to help destroy?..."
Yeni
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" Vol. 13, No. 5
Date of publication:
2005-04-30
Date of entry/update:
2006-04-27
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"...Since the assumption of power of the State Law and Order Restoration
Council (SLORC) in September 1988, Burma has experienced a dramatic rise
in the production and export of illegal narcotics. Since 1996, opium and
heroin production doubled. In the years since there has been a steady decline
in opium production and the export of heroin. Far from being the result of
government and international efforts, this has been largely the cause of a
production and market shift, from opiates to amphetamine type stimulants
(ATS). The drug trade in Burma is conducted predominantly by Chinese
criminal organizations, protected at every step by ethnic militia armies with
links to transnational criminal networks. They are routinely and
systematically assisted by members of the Burmese Army (Tatmadaw) in a
network that has no official approval, but which is so widespread and deep
as to be systemic and multi-layered, from the troops on the ground to the
generals in Rangoon....The SPDC has failed to resolutely interdict the narcotics trade in Burma.
Efforts so far to accord with its stated aims and international obligations
have been insufficient to increase the current level of United Nations
funding, or for the United States Government to certify the regime as
cooperating fully on stopping the drug trade. Narcotics eradication efforts
cannot be depoliticized or sequestered from the SPDC's wider aims, which
includes the pacification of ethnic people. The humanitarian crisis facing
opium farming communities in the Shan State must be urgently addressed by
the international community. This should entail greater lobbying of the
SPDC to slow down their eradication drive and take a more gradual,
sustainable approach to eradication. The regime must demonstrate that their
war on drugs is one conducted with greater respect for human rights,
providing sustainable alternative incomes and more positive development for
the communities. Other communities affected by drug eradication projects,
such as Shan displaced by UWSA and UNODC sponsored forced
relocations should also be recognized and assisted..."
Source/publisher:
Altsean-Burma
Date of publication:
2004-10-31
Date of entry/update:
2004-12-14
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"Proponents of increased counter-narcotics assistance for Burma should be reminded of how it was misused in the past.
As the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, or UNODC, lobbies governments to increase their contributions to opium eradication projects, it is worth looking back on the last major phase of international funding of narcotics suppression, to be reminded of what Burma?s military government did with it. In particular, the misuse of US aid should provide a cautionary tale to any bilateral or multilateral donors..."
David Scott Mathieson
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" Vol. 12, No. 2
Date of publication:
2004-01-31
Date of entry/update:
2004-06-09
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Individual Documents
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UNODC (formerly UNDCP and ODCCP) (English), Drugs and Burma: general links, reports and articles
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La drogue, petrole, la junte birmane, la France...Le livre de Francis Christophe (moins Introduction et Annexe).
DU ROI THEBAW A LA FRENCH-SLORC-CONNECTION; LA MONTEE DE l'OPIUM EN BIRMANIE; L'ARRIVEE EN FORCE DU SLORC;
LA REDDITION-REHABILITATION DE KHUN SA; LE SLORC, REINCARNATION DE LA DICTATURE PRECEDENTE; PARRAINAGES ET RESEAUX; LE PARAVENT DE L'ENGAGEMENT CONSTRUCTIF;
LES AMIS DU SLORC; INDE-BIRMANIE: L'HEROINE BOUSCULE LE STATU-QUO; NARCO-REACTION EN CHAINE; EXCEPTION FRANCAISE;
LA CHUTE de MANDALAY; MIRAGE ET TABOU SUR LA DROGUE;
DIPLOMATIE PETROLIERE TOTAL EN BIRMANIE, L'IMPLANTATION;
LE FARDEAU BIRMAN; SUCCES SUR LE TERRAIN, DIFFICULTES MEDIATIQUES; LES CIRCUITS POLITIQUES ET ECONOMIQUES;
UNE FRENCH-SLORC-CONNECTION? UN ENGAGEMENT DESTRUCTEUR.
Francis Christophe
Date of publication:
1997-11-30
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
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Individual Documents
Category:
Drugs and Burma: general links, reports and articles, Money-laundering and oil and gas, Yadana Field - (Total, Chevron, PTTEP, MOGE), Burma: opium and heroin
Language:
Francais, French
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"Rangoon needs to show its sincerity in tackling its drug problem and should fully cooperate with neighbouring countries writes Sai Lu..."
Sai Lu
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy", Vol. 6. No. 1
Date of publication:
1998-01-31
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
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At the end of a three-day meeting held under the auspices of the United Nations International Drug Control Program in early May, Burma?s military rulers once again demonstrated their commitment to winning the war on drugs with aceremonial drug-burning bonfire. But while the generals were incinerating what they claimed was $ 920 million worth of narcotics, sources familiar with Rangoon?s drug scene were reporting that the trade in heroin for domestic consumption showed no signs of being under fire.
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy", Vol. 9. No. 4 (Intelligence section)
Date of publication:
2001-04-30
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
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Drug production, once the domain of insurgents fighting against Rangoon, has become the cornerstone of the mainstream economy. Burma?s reputation as a major drug producer is well earned, despite the ruling junta?s insistence that it is doing everything in its powers to combat the trade in narcotics. Aung Zaw finds out from drug-industry insiders how the business flourishes under military rule, and examines its impact on relations with Burma?s neighbors.
Aung Zaw
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy", Vol 9. No. 5
Date of publication:
2001-05-31
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
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Individual Documents
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Drugs and Burma: general links, reports and articles, Drugs and money laundering, Thailand-Burma relations
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English
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Internal conflict and ideological differences have taken their toll on the decades-old Karenni insurgency, but the Karenni National Progressive Party remains one of the few ethnic-based political organizations in Burma still actively engaged in armed resistance against the Rangoon regime. Now, reports Neil Lawrence, the KNPP is facing a new challenge, as opium and other narcotics once confined to neighboring Shan State make their way into territory controlled by Rangoon?s Karenni allies.
Neil Lawrence
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy", Vol. 8, No. 6
Date of publication:
2000-05-31
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
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Individual Documents
Category:
Non-Ceasefire Groups, Drugs and Burma: general links, reports and articles, Discrimination against the Karenni (Kayah)
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English
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"Quelles réalités économiques, politiques et militaires se cachent derrière les phénomènes de société que sont la production de drogues illicites
dans les pays du Sud et leur consommation dans les pays industrialisés?
Si l?opium est produit et consommé depuis la plus haute Antiquité, sa production à large échelle en Asie est, quant à elle, étroitement liée à la colonisation
britannique d?abord et à la guerre froide par la suite. En effet, après la Deuxième Guerre mondiale, les troupes nationalistes chinoises dans le Triangle
d?Or et, plus récemment, les moudjahidins afghans puis les talibans dans le Croissant d?Or, ont eu recours à l?économie de l?opium pour financer leurs guerres, en
bénéficiant de l?appui bienveillant de la CIA dans leurs luttes contre le communisme.
Aujourd?hui, ces groupes, ayant perdu leurs motivations et apparences idéologiques, ont donné naissance à d?autres groupes, bien organisés et
puissamment armés et qui, à travers leur rôle dans l?économie des drogues illicites, demeurent plus actifs que jamais.
En Asie, l?opium, du nerf de la guerre en est devenu l?enjeu, avec ses multiples conséquences géopolitiques dans les pays du Sud et ses retombées sociales et
économiques dans nos sociétés occidentales.
En comparant l?Afghanistan et la Birmanie, à travers les deux espaces majeurs de production d?opium et d?héroïne que sont le Croissant d?Or et le Triangle
d?Or, l?auteur a effectué un véritable travail d?investigation et d?analyse pour identifier les acteurs, localiser les réseaux, évaluer les enjeux géopolitiques et expliquer les logiques
fondamentales d?une production qui alimente un marché aux profits vertigineux et aux implications mondiales..." Table des matieres, Introduction, cartes, Compte-rendus et critiques et liens a d?autres documents de l?auteur.
Pierre-Arnaud Chouvy
Source/publisher:
Editions d
Date of publication:
2002-09-30
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
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Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Online sale of crafts, clothes, art, books, CDs, magazines etc., Drugs and Burma: general links, reports and articles, Burma: opium and heroin
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Francais, French
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Film by Adrian Cowell
Adrian Cowell
Source/publisher:
"Frontline", PBS USA
Date of publication:
1997-05-20
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
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"Notre propos en publiant ? nouveau cet article n'est pas de remettre encore une fois les litanies simplistes sur le trafic de drogue ? la une, les journalistes, touristes-?crivains et autres sp?cialistes en herbe s'en chargent avec beaucoup plus de succ?s que nous ne saurions le faire. Ce n'est pas non plus de r??crire l'histoire ou les p?rip?ties du d?veloppement dans les ?tats du nord-est du Myanmar de la culture du pavot ? opium, non, car ici aussi de v?ritables sp?cialistes savent mieux que nous citer des douzaines de noms de groupes rebelles ou officiels, les noms, alias et sobriquets des protagonistes et, pour certains, peuvent m?me recr?er une chronologie des faits.
Non, notre intention est de faire partager en peu de mots une vision plus globale, qui mette en perspective le d?veloppement de la culture du pavot dans le d?veloppement de l'insatisfaction des peuples du Myanmar, et l'?chec ?conomique d'une gestion centralis?e et militaris?e des ?tats peupl?s de minorit?s nationales.
Nous pensons aussi n?cessaire de dresser en quelques chiffres un portrait plus technique de l'importance pour la r?gion de la culture de l'opium.
Enfin, et pour situer cette publication par rapport ? sa premi?re version, nous y avons apport? quelques modifications de fran?ais et des compl?ments dans le domaine de la collusion entre le pouvoir et les trafiquants, un th?me qui s'est particuli?rement ?toff? ses derni?res ann?es, bien qu'il reste tr?s confus. Le texte toutefois n'a pas subit de modification profonde, il reste celui de 1989, et seules quelques notes bibliographiques font r?f?rences ? un des nombreux ouvrages publi?s en rapport avec notre sujet depuis 6 ans. ..."
Pierre L?pold
Source/publisher:
Centre d'?tudes et de Documentation sur le Karenni (C?doK)
Date of publication:
2002-09-30
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
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Francais, French
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The Shan Herald Agency for News (S.H.A.N.) examines the facts and figures behind heroin production in Shan State, and concludes that both the Burmese military regime and its critics have got it wrong about the scale of the drug trade in the strife-torn area.
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy", Vol. 7. No. 8
Date of publication:
1999-09-30
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
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