Indian police arrest 13 Nepalese, seize heroin worth two million dollars
NEW DELHI, Feb 4 (AFP) -Indian narcotics agents have arrested 13 Nepalese in New Delhi and seized two million dollars worth of heroin destined for Thailand, the Press Trust of India reported Friday.
Customs Commissioner Vijay Zutshi said the suspects had swallowed the narcotics sealed in a total of 1,135 capsules before trying to leave in batches on separate international flights to Thailand.
She said narcotics agents had been on the trail of the suspects since January 28 when one Nepalese citizen was allegedly caught with contraband drugs while he was trying to board a Bangkok-bound All Nippon Airlines flight.
In an unrelated raid, the city police on Friday arrested a former Indian force fighter pilot and his daughter and siezed more than 150 kilogramspounds) of a marijuana derivative, a police spokesman said.
Domestic intelligence agencies say India is a transit for drug trafficking cartels active in Afghanistan and Myanmar.
Saturday, February 5 2:34 PM SGT
Hundreds of Karens Flee Myanmar
By THAKSINA KHAIKAEW Associated Press Writer
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - More than 250 Karen refugees have fled fighting in Myanmar between the rebel group God's Army and government forces and entered Thailand in recent days, officials said today.
The latest group, mostly women and children, had arrived overnight Thursday, said Phayakkhaphan Phothikaew, chief of Suan Phung district in western Thailand across the border from the fighting.
They were given shelter in a temporary camp at Baw Wi, and joined 1,078 refugees already there, he said. The camp is 2 miles from the border, and has been off-limits to journalists.
``All of them are civilians affected by the fighting,'' said Phayakkhaphan, adding that he had no word about the estimated 100 to 200 God's Army fighters.
Government troops overran the God's Army jungle base at Ka Mar Pa Law on Jan. 27.
The fighters, led by 12-year-old twin boys believed to have magical powers of victory, are thought to have split into smaller bands. They are believed to be skirmishing with larger government forces while trying to link up with the 4th Brigade of the Karen National Union.
But the mainstream Karen group has insisted it will not take in God's Army fighters unless the group yields to KNU discipline.
The KNU has disavowed the 10 gunmen from God's Army and the radical Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors who seized a provincial Thai hospital Jan. 24, taking hundreds of hostages. The gunmen were killed in a Thai commando raid.
Thai officials have said they will not grant refuge to the God's Army fighters unless they lay down their weapons at the border. They also insist they will arrest the twins, Johnny and Luther Htoo, and a student rebel leader known as Johnny.
Johnny's group - the Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors - took hostages last October at Myanmar's embassy in Bangkok, then fled to take refuge with God's Army at Ka Mar Pa Law.
The actions have outraged Thailand and strained relations between Thais and refugees. At least 100,000 refugees, mostly ethnic Karens, are taking shelter in camps along the border.
The representative in Thailand of the U.N. High Commissioner of Refugees attempted Friday to soothe some of the tensions by visiting the Baw Wi camp and donating financial support to four local schools in Suan Phung district.
The Karens, many of them fundamentalist Christians in a predominantly Buddhist country, have been fighting Myanmar's government for more autonomy for half a century.
Many of the students are survivors of the bloody crackdown against a 1988 uprising against military rule. The military has ruled Myanmar, also known as Burma, since 1962.
Bangkok Post - Feb 5, 2000.
Firms deny plot and pledge to protect Plodprasop
Forestry chief and execs in tense talks
Uamdao Noikorn and Chewin Sattha
Four logging companies denied yesterday they had plotted the murder of the Forestry Department chief and instead guaranteed his safety during his log inspection trip in Burma.
| Forestry chief Plodprasop Suraswadi is
flanked by security guards on his way to a ceremony organised by his
sub-ordinates to give him moral support yesterday. - Boonnarong Bhudhipanya |
After the talks, the firms outlined measures in their respective areas to ensure Mr Plodprasop's safety should he inspect their logs in Burma.
The assurance did not seem to pacify Mr Plodprasop. "I need everything clear from the start because we can't work together with suspicion hanging over us," he said. "They said they never intended to kill me. Since this is a gentleman-to-gentleman talk, I will try to believe they may not be involved in the plot."Speculation about the motive centres on the conditions Mr Plodprasop attached to the importation of the logs, so far delayed for two years.
B&F Goodrich Co, Polpana Co, SA Pharmaceuticals Co and Thai-Korean Veterans' Welfare Co said they had never considered taking Mr Plodprasop's life. They operated legally.
While they were unhappy with the conditions at first, they had found the deal acceptable after the conditions were modified.
Supachit Suppipat, managing director of SA Pharmaceuticals, said: "If my company really planned a murder attempt, everything we've done for two years would be set back to square one."Mr Plodprasop last month revoked the requirement that a log yard be built 3km from the border for an in-country inspection after the Customs Department agreed to allow forestry officials to jointly inspect the logs once they arrived on Thai soil.
However, the conditions on log inspection on Burmese soil and the bar coding of the logs remain.
Pro-communist Karenni rebels have also denied they were involved in the alleged plot.
A source close to the Karenni National People's Party said the leadership felt slandered. They held no grudge against Mr Plodprasop and had no reason to get involved.
Karenni leaders also offered to protect the forestry chief should he inspect the felled teak in Burma.
Security has been stepped up in border areas of
Kanchanaburi and Ratchaburi to prevent incursions by Karen guerrillas fighting
Burmese government troops. The move was ordered by First Army commander Lt-Gen Thaweep Suwannasing after
a meeting with Johanshah Assadi, the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees' regional representative, yesterday. Lt-Gen Thaweep, Mr Assadi and Maj-Gen Sanchai Ratchatawan, commander of the
9th Infantry Division, met in Kanchaburi to discuss the planned transfer of more
than 1,000 Karen refugees at Ban Bor Wi in Suan Phung district, Ratchaburi, to
Ban Ton Yan in Sangkhlaburi district, Kanchanaburi. Maj-Gen Sanchai said the fighting was 1-2 km from the border. Karen fleeing
the Burmese assault must surrender their weapons if they seek sanctuary in
Thailand here. He rejected reports an unidentified number of armed Burmese men
had entered Ban Phu Muang in Dan Makham Tia district. Mr Assadi said the seizure
of Ratchaburi hospital last month would not affect UNHCR operations. Burmese students at the Maneeloy Centre in Ratchaburi staged a protest,
demanding the lifting of a travel ban imposed after the incident. They said at
least 50 refugees were ill and needed treatment.
Mae Hong Son Four Burmese students who had escaped from a
refugee camp were caught yesterday. They were among eight Burmese men and a few women and children rounded up by
local police who raided a rented house in Ban Dong Sa-ngad, Mae Sariang
district. The four Burmese students had escaped from the Mae Khongkha refugee camp
since last month. No charges were made against the remaining Burmese, who were
also allowed a temporary stay in Thailand. Also yesterday, two Karen men were charged with illegal entry and possessing
forged identity cards. The Karen, arrested on a bus at Ban Mae Hoh, Mae Sariang, allegedly admitted
buying the ID cards from an official in Mae Sot district, Tak. Meanwhile, sources said illegal logging remained rampant near a Karen refugee
camp in the Salween national park and wildlife sanctuary. They said a patrol from the 7th Infantry Regiment found vast forest areas had
been cleared near the Ban Mae Kong Kha camp, which houses some 15,000 Karen
refugees. The troops were pushing for a plan to move the refugees out of the forest
where they could be hired by illegal timber traders to fell trees. The Nation Feb 5, 2000 Headlines Burmese call for lifting of curfew EXILED Burmese students at the Maneeloy Holding Centre yesterday urged Thai
authorities to relax camp restrictions amid growing fears that the dissidents
there would cause disturbances.
Officials at the centre in Ratchaburi province have imposed severe
restrictions, not allowing students there to leave the camp at any time unless
in an absolute emergency.
The restrictions were imposed after radical Burmese exiles, including former
Maneeloy residents, stormed Ratchaburi Hospital and held hundreds of people at
gunpoint demanding that the Thai Army stop shelling their positions.
Student leaders at Maneeloy, however, said they were being punished for
something they didn't do and urged the authorities there to lift the 24-hour
curfew.
Even the noodle shop, a popular hangout for Maneeloy residents and located
just across the street, has been declared off limits.
In a related development, police in Mae Hong Son's Tha Song Yang district
have launched a crackdown on companies employing Burmese student exiles, a move
that appears to indicate a change in attitude among Thai officials after decades
of tolerance towards the dissidents' activities in the country.
The Ratchaburi, governor has ordered all government agencies to monitor the
activities of the dissident groups. The province has been forced to provide
shelter for thousands of Burmese refugees, some of whom have crossed over in
this past week amid heavy fighting along the border.
The Nation