01 March 2006
Despite Gains, Burma Still a Major Drug Producer and Trafficker
Opium production down, but greater involvement in amphetamine distribution
By Susan Krause
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- Despite increased cooperation with the United Nations and major regional allies in reducing opium poppy cultivation and opium production, Burma continues to be a major producer and trafficker of illicit drugs, according to an annual report from the State Department.
"Burma is the world's second largest producer of illicit opium, accounting for more than 90 percent of Southeast Asian heroin," says the International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR) for 2006, released March 1. (See related article.)
The country produced an estimated 380 metric tons of opium in 2005, the report says, primarily in the "Golden Triangle" area of Shan state that borders China, Laos and Thailand and is controlled by former insurgent groups.
Of equal concern, according to the report, is Burma's growing involvement in the production and distribution of amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) such as crystal methamphetamine.
The INCSR is prepared in accordance with the requirements of Section 489 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and covers the year from January 1 to December 31, 2005. The 2006 annual report is the 23rd of its kind, and includes certification designations made by President Bush in a report sent to Congress in September 2005.
Burma was one of 20 countries designated by the president as "major drug transit or major illicit drug producing countries." It was also one of only two countries cited for having "failed demonstrably" during the previous 12 months to meet their obligations under international counternarcotics agreements.
Inclusion on the so-called "Majors List" is not necessarily an adverse reflection of a government's counternarcotics efforts or level of cooperation with the United States, according to the INCSR.
The government of Burma has been working on narcotics investigations with the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and the Australian Federal Police, and increased its cooperation with law enforcement agencies in China and Thailand, the report notes. Burma also works on supply-reduction efforts with the United Nations Office for Drug Control (UNODC).
OPIUM PRODUCTION IN DECLINE, BUT TRAFFICKING CONTINUES
With some international assistance, the government of Burma has initiated counternarcotics initiatives in phases, linking eradication efforts with alternative development programs in individual regions. The country has made "significant gains" in reducing opium poppy cultivation and opium production in recent years, the INCSR says.
But none of the target regions is "truly opium-free" yet, the report states.
The Burmese government also has moved in stages over the course of several years to negotiate cease-fire agreements with insurgent groups in the border areas of Shan state, where most illicit drug production occurs.
The insurgent groups temporarily were allowed to continue earning financial support from drug production and trafficking in exchange for peace. Then, starting in the mid-1990s, the Burmese government began to seek "opium-free" agreements from the groups and increased its law enforcement efforts.
Poppy cultivation has fallen off significantly in areas controlled by ethnic Wa tribesmen near the Chinese border, the INCSR says, dropping from 55 percent to 40 percent of Burma's total crop production. Despite some offsetting increases in production in the southern and eastern parts of Shan state, Burma's total production of opium has declined in recent years, dropping to less than 20 percent of what it was in the mid-1990s.
Nonetheless, the report said, the Wa tribal group remains Burma's leading grower of poppies and producer of opium. And despite an announced ban in June 2005 on poppy cultivation and opium production and trafficking on Wa territory, such activities continue unimpeded by the United Wa State Army, the military wing of the United Wa State Political Leadership, a criminal group.
SYNTHETIC STIMULANTS AN INCREASING CONCERN
As poppy cultivation and opium production have declined over the last several years, production and distribution of synthetic stimulants have surged in Burma, the INCSR says, and the country now plays a leading role in regional trafficking in these substances.
"Drug gangs, many of which are ethnic Chinese, based in the Burma/China and Burma/Thailand border areas, annually produce several hundred million methamphetamine tablets for markets in Thailand, China, and India using precursors imported from China and India," the report says.
Burmese government figures showed that law enforcement authorities seized about 1.65 million ATS tablets and more than 280 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine in the first 11 months of 2005. But the report found that the Burmese government had not destroyed any labs or taken other steps to limit ATS production and trafficking.
THE ROAD AHEAD
The U.S. government suspended direct counternarcotics assistance to Burma in 1988, and is able to engage the country on only a "very limited level," the report notes. No U.S. counternarcotics funding goes directly to the government of Burma.
However, the DEA shares drug-related intelligence and works closely with Burmese authorities in drug-enforcement investigations. These efforts have contributed to significant drug seizures and to arrests and convictions of drug producers and traffickers.
In addition, the United States has contributed to UNODC's activities in Burma, including the completion of an annual crop survey and projects to encourage development and crop substitution.
Burma urgently needs "large-scale and long-term" international development assistance and aid to help control drug production and trafficking, the INCSR concludes. But international assistance of all kinds is limited by the continued political repression of the country's military regime.
The full text of the two-volume International Narcotics Control Strategy Report for 2006 is available on the Department of State Web site.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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