All vehicles marked with anti-drug stickers and posters produced by the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) are being prevented from entering the Burmese government’s controlled areas in the country’s north by the military regime, according to travelers with line cars.

Since October 13, Burmese military authorities have stopped all vehicles with KIO’s anti-drug stickers at the Lajayang border checkpoint, and the drivers have been forced at gunpoint to remove the KIO’s anti-drug stickers, drivers said.

Lajayang gate is the main trade corridor along the Chinese border with Kachin State, and it is also the main entrance to Laiza, the capital and business center of the KIO. It is situated between the Myitkyina-Bhamo highways.

Nhpang Naw Bu, spokesperson of the KIO’s Drug Eradication Committee (DEC) said the anti-drug posters and stickers have been pasted on all vehicles arriving at and departing from Laiza.

Every day, there are between 50 and 100 cars, and hundreds of motorcycles and motorized rickshaws on-route between Laiza and Lajayang, KIO sources said.

The KIO publicly announced the renewal of its “War against Drugs” on October 5, setting October 15 as the deadline for a complete ban on all forms of drugs in Kachin State, and its territories in Northern Shan State.

The announcement included a warning to drug users, producers, smugglers and distributors that harsh penalties, including the death penalty, are now in place against anyone breaching KIO anti-drug laws.

According to DEC spokesperson Naw Bu, since October 19, drug users have had to fill out a form declaring “I stop drug addiction”, and drug producers, opium growers and smugglers have to fill out a form declaring “I stop cultivating opium. I stop producing and smuggling drugs”.

In 1990, former KIO Chairman, Maran Brang Seng, announced to the international community Kachin State was opium free, and the KIO devised its drug eradication laws in 1991.

The KIO’s drug eradication campaign was considered a success. However, the campaign faltered after the KIO signed a ceasefire agreement with the Burmese Military in 1994, said Naw Bu.