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?..."