Cultivation of poppy and the consumption of opium has become the bane of Kachin State in northern Burma. Demand for opium far outstrips production and both have registered an alarming rise.
The increasing demand for drugs among gold and jade mine workers and timber loggers have led to more and more farmers traditionally into rice cultivation to switch to growing poppy in Hukawng (Hugawng) Valley Kachin State.
Hukawng Valley, now accounts for over 100,000 acres of poppy. The proliferation of poppy cultivation is helped along, with cultivators bribing both regional Burmese military junta authorities the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and the New Democratic Army-Kachin (NDA-K).
The valley is the largest opium producer in Kachin State. Demand in the state ensures that the produce is consumed by the local people so there are no despatches outside the state.
Consumption of opium though spread out in Kachin state is high among gold and jade mine workers in the valley. Opium also finds its way to Myitkyina Township the capital of Kachin State and Laiza, the headquarters and business centre of the KIO on the Sino-Burma border. Given the high demand for opium, farmers find it profitable to switch from traditional paddy to poppy.
The profit equation makes it lucrative for farmers to make the switch in cultivation. For instance an acre of paddy field yields 50 Tins (1 Tin = 40.9 litres in Burmese measurement in volume) of paddy and the price for 50 tins of rice is 250,000 Kyat whereas an acre of poppy field yields at least 3 to 4 Viss (1 Viss = 1.6 Kilograms in Burmese measurement in weight) and the current price for a Viss of opium is 1,000,000 Kyat (est. US $ 889) to 3,000,000 Kyat (est. US $ 2,667).
For farmers it makes good economic sense given that there are no restrictions imposed by the government and bribing sees them through.
The same equation applies in Sadung (Sadon) areas in eastern Kachin state bordering China's Yunnan province where poppy is second largest cultivated crop. Here again farmers making the switch, need to keep the Burmese ruling junta, KIO and New Democratic Army-Kachin (NDA-K) happy because the area is administrated by them. Cultivation here has increased with the use of chemical fertilizers from China. Most poppy fields are owned by Chinese businessmen. Here again regional military authorities, the KIO and the NDA-K are bribed by the Chinese poppy cultivators for permission. They grow 7 Viss to 15 Viss of opium per acre annually and is converted into heroin and methamphetamine tablets and despatched to China. Areas in Phakant and Putao are also gradually coming under poppy cultivation.
Production of opium is directly linked to the demand, for drug addiction is at an all time high in the state. Drug trade flourishes in the gold and jade mine areas with the active encouragement of mine owners both in its sale and consumption. To ensure loyalty employers not only encourage use of drugs but are even known to give as much as 1,000 Kyat a day to the miners to buy drugs. The more they consume the more they want.
Drug dealers send drugs into the mining areas using women as carriers. Drugs are packed inside condoms and sent from Myitkyina to Danai. The women cross the check points with the condoms inside the vagina.
Poppy cultivation has been gradually increasing since 1994 when the KIO signed a ceasefire agreement with the junta. With mining in jade, gold and logging controlled by companies, common people do not benefit. The beneficiaries are the companies, the junta and the ceasefire groups. This has contributed to the many farmers opting for poppy cultivation. With the economy of the country on a downhill mode, survival for the common man makes him turn to illegal earnings. With demand outstripping production poppy fields are mushrooming wherever possible in the state.
Officially, however, the KIO stopped its opium business in 1991 KIO but it continues to benefit directly or indirectly from opium. Chinese drug lords pump in money to the ceasefire groups. The last time the KIO burnt drugs publicly was in 2005.
There has been little awareness to check the alarming increase in drug use and production. For the first time on 'World Drug Day' this month, an anti-drug poster movement was in evidence in key places in Myitkyina Township, by Myitkyina University students under the aegis of the All Kachin Students Union (AKSU). About 200 A-4 size posters, with 'No Drugs' written in both Burmese and English were pasted in Myitkyina downtown. The idea was to create awareness given that a large number of high school and university students are also into drugs. Ironically junta officials tore the posters.
The AKSU has alleged that government personnel like army officials, soldiers, military affairs security unit (military intelligence or Sa-Ya-Pha), police, narcotic police, legal experts, lawyers, judges, doctors and jailers depend directly or indirectly on illegal income from drug trade because of the abysmally low salaries given by the junta.
According to the United Nations on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report in 2007, Burma's poppy cultivation dropped 34 per cent, to an estimated 21,500 hectares from 32,800 hectares in 2005. The areas where poppy cultivation has been on the decline were supposedly in Kachin State and North Shan and Wa areas. The truth is exactly the opposite.
(The author is a veteran journalist from India and has been in major newspapers as a Reporter, Deputy Chief of Bureau, News Coordinator, Op-ed and Edit writer.)
