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Wednesday, January 5 6:36 PM SGT
Thailand executes drug traffickerBANGKOK, Jan 5 (AFP) -Thailand has executed a convicted drug trafficker from Myanmar, officials said Wednesday, as new data showed police made 170,000 drugs-related arrests in 1999 and seized 45 million amphetamine pills. Hla Win, 49, was shot by firing squad late Tuesday at Bangkwang maximum security prison in Bangkok's northern suburbs. He was arrested at Bangkok International Airport in 1993 and found in possession of 13.9 kilograms (30.58 pounds) of heroin. His death sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court and a plea for royal clemency was rejected. Government minister Jurin Laksanawisit, who oversees the Office of Narcotics Control Board, Wednesday unveiled new drugs data which showed airports and airlines must play a crucial role in reducing drugs smuggling. "We cannot use x-ray machines to check for drugs at airports or on airliners, they are only weapon detectors," he told reporters. Aviation staff must be extra vigilant as air travel was the preferred mode of transit for drugs traffickers, he added. The announcement came a day after Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai indirectly blamed Myanmar for a lack of cooperation in stemming the flow of illicit drugs. The criticism followed the discovery by police here of two hauls totalling 3.8 million amphetamine tablets allegedly manufactured by ethnic Wa insurgents in eastern Myanmar. "I have instructed the national police chief to find more effective measures to intercept drugs as this haul has proved that international cooperation was useless," Chuan told reporters Tuesday. Jurin said Wednesday senior Thai officials and their Myanmar counterparts would hold talks in Myanmar next month and Thailand would raise the effectiveness of anti-drugs operations at border checkpoints. Officials would also discuss the issue of exchanging drugs suspects and a crackdown on factories in areas controlled by Myanmar's ethnic minorities. "All I can say for the cooperation with Myanmar is that we want it to intensify," said Jurin. Myanmar television reported Tuesday more than 5.3 million amphetamine pills had been seized in a raid in the north of the military-ruled country near the Thai border. The government in Yangon frequently trumpets its anti-narcotic efforts and denies it could do more to crack down on trafficking in areas controlled by insurgents. Myanmar is one of the world's biggest producers of heroin along with Afghanistan and is accused of hosting hundreds of amphetamine factories along its east and northeast border region. |