The escalating tension between the Burmese Army and the ceasefire groups since April, has practically put a halt to the United Wa State Army’s drug operations along the Thai-Burma border, according to a source from eastern Shan State.
“All those earlier working with the Wa in Mongton, Monghsat and Tachilek (the three townships facing Maehongson, Chiangmai and Chiangrai) are either closing shop or moving up to the north,” he said.
The resulting vacuum is being filled by the junta-backed military forces, who are being trained and armed by the Burmese Army to be employed in the event of war with either the UWSA or Shan StateArmy (SSA) ‘South’, or both. The best known among them are Punako and Kya Tey in MonghsatTownship and Nampong in Tachilek Township.
Each of them is said to have one heroin factory in their respective areas, assigned by the Burmese Army.
“Anyone, who wants to grow poppies, has to get himself/herself registered with the local militia,” he said. “And if any of them needs starting capital, the authorities will furnish it on condition that the loan would be repaid in kind. The crop is also not to be sold to outsiders, except those authorized by the group concerned,” he added.
The “king of kings” among them appears to be Punako, led by Ai Long, his younger brother Kyaderh and their brother-in-law Kya Ngoi. The group initially grabbed the attention of the Thai media, when its drug market cum transit point at Maejok, opposite Hmong Kaolang, Mae Fa Luang district, Chiangrai province, was overrun by the SSA ‘South” on February 8, 2002. (Saraburi Coal Mining, a Thai company, which had won a local contract in Monghsat, has been recently assigned by the Burmese Army to build a road across the Maejok-Hmong Kaolang border).
Besides producing and trading in drugs, the group is also running a protection racket for drugs coming from outside its territory. “Not unlike Naw Kham (who is running another racket in the Golden Triangle, between Burma, Laos and Thailand),” he remarked.
“Also like Naw Kham, the group is paying kickbacks to the junta commanders from the local level up to the regional command,” he said.
One of the trio, Kya Ngoi, is often seen playing golf with the Military Operations Command (MOC) #14 Commander in Monghsat. “While the Burmese Commander has only four armed bodyguards, Kya Ngoi always comes to the golf course with around 10 bodyguards of his own,” he said, “leading to a joke that he must be senior to the MOC Commander.”
The Wa, meanwhile, is not completely out of the reckoning. “Their high quality heroin and Yaba (methamphetamine) tablets are coming to Thailand via Mekong and Laos,” he maintained. “With ready cash, a person would be able to buy any amount he wishes to order,” he concluded.
According to the official media, the regional command in Kengtung, 160 km north of Tachilek, set aflame drugs worth Kyat 20,177 million (USD 20 million) on the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on June 26. Much to the surprise of observers, no flippant statements against the ceasefire groups, all of whom are reportedly involved in the trade, were issued by Naypyitaw.
United States President Barack Obama has called the War on Drugs, waged since 1971, an “utter failure”, according to Newsweek, June 1, 2009 issue.
