DATE=1/16/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=BURMA / DRUGS (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-258108
BYLINE=RON CORBEN
DATELINE=BANGKOK
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: A former insurgent group in Burma says it
plans to relocate 50-thousand people from one of the
country's main opium-growing regions (in Shan state),
in an effort to shut down production of illegal drugs,
including heroin. As Ron Corben reports from Bangkok,
there are plans to establish five opium-free zones in
northern Burma by 2005.
TEXT: An ethnic army operating in the area of Burma
that has the greatest density of opium production has
begun a forced relocation program in a bid to
eradicate opium-poppy production in northern Shan
state.
The United Wa State Army, or U-W-S-A, says it has
commenced relocating 50-thousand opium growers more
than 160 kilometers south from their homes near the
Chinese border (to the area around Wan Hung).
The U-W-S-A told visiting reporters the relocation is
part of its effort to end production of opium in Shan
state - by force, if necessary.
Officials of the Wa group say they have been working
on the anti-drug effort since 1995. They aim to
establish five opium-poppy-free zones in the region by
2005, working in cooperation with the United Nations
Drug Control Program.
// OPT // The U-W-S-A was set up in 1989 by members
of the former Wa National Council and Wa units of the
former Communist Party of Burma. The Army is reported
to have up to 20-thousand troops under arms. It
signed a cease-fire agreement with Rangoon in 1989.
// END OPT //
A liaison officer from the military government in
Rangoon, Kyin Maung Myint says the relocation will
take place over a three-year period, and that 10-
thousand people already have been moved.
The Wan Hung area, the former opium farmers' new home,
formerly was controlled by a notorious drug warlord,
Khun Sa, who is still wanted in the United States for
heroin trafficking. Khun Sa surrendered to Burma's
military government in 1996, and now lives in Rangoon.
News of a new anti-drug campaign in Burma is likely to
be met with skepticism outside the country. U-S State
Department reports say armies such as the Wa remain
heavily involved in the drugs trade.
But Burmese liaison officer Khin Maung Myint says the
local people have been told they are no longer allowed
to grow opium poppy, and should move to alternative
crops, such as fruit.
// OPT // An official from Burma's counter narcotics
agency, Colonel Kyaw Thein, says most of the people
moved so far are ethnic Wa, but there also were
members of the Lahu, Akha and Lisu hill tribes, living
in rocky highlands largely ill-suited to growing any
crops apart from opium. // END OPT //
Burma remains the world's largest source of illicit
opium and heroin, according to U-S narcotics and law-
enforcement agency reports, although production has
fallen in recent years due to eradication programs and
drought.
/// REST OPT ///
At a drugs-control conference in Bangkok last month, a
senior Burmese police officer, Brigadier General Hla
Tun, said Rangoon is determined to fight the drug
problem -- with or without international assistance.
General Hla Tun, from the central committee for Drug
Abuse Control, said that with international
assistance, Burma would be more successful in
suppressing heroin production.
But despite these efforts large amounts of heroin and
amphetamines are still crossing the border into
Thailand.
In recent days, Thai anti-narcotics police, in a joint
operation with the U-S Drug Enforcement
Administration, seized 126 kilograms of U-S - bound
heroin at Bangkok's international airport.
The secretary general of Thailand's Narcotics Control
Board, Sorasit Sangprasert, said the heroin had come
from Burma's northeastern Shan state, in an area
controlled by the United Wa State Army. (Signed)
NEB/RC/WTW
16-Jan-2000 08:04 AM EDT (16-Jan-2000 1304 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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