Support grows for plan to aid Burma's drug war
The Bangkokpost (05-02-02)
A CORRESPONDENT
Rangoon is reaching out for aid in its fight against drugs, and more and more people are of the belief that it deserves their backing.
First in the field and now in diplomatic circles, people have started to think the unthinkable: It is time to consider working with Burma to stop drug making and to pursue drug traffickers.The debate has now come out in the open. The idea that Rangoon is serious about combatting trafficking is still unpopular, but appears to be gaining strength.
Last week, the United Nations drug man in Rangoon voiced publicly what an increasing number of people have been saying privately: Burma has begun to co-operate on fighting drug trafficking, and the world should help.
``The political situation is one thing,'' Jean-Luc Lemahieu said, ``but now, with the gradual political will from Rangoon to combat the drugs problem, it's time to act.''
The tiny foreign community of drug officers in Burma has felt this way for some time. But members are under strong restraints from their governments on what they can do or say.
``My government won't let me say this,'' said a Western narcotics officer based in Bangkok, ``but we really have to stop asking Burma to carry all our water up the hill.''
Burma's military dictatorship receives little aid and much criticism for its political repression and violence against its citizens. Even after a year of secret talks with democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the junta members have failed to convince anyone they are willing to relinquish or share power in a democratic system.
The regime has given asylum to two of the world's biggest heroin warlords, Khun Sa and Lo Hsing-han. Even worse to some, the regime has profitted by major investments by drug dealers who have laundered their money in official projects, many of them high profile tourism and trade projects.But in the past few months, there have been ``signs that Rangoon is getting serious on drugs'', in the words of one drug expert. Some believe it is time to test this commitment with aid to anti-drug forces in Burma.
In fact, the Thai government has already begun a modest aid programme to study and begin a crop substitution project in opium fields in northern Burma. The project has earmarked 20 million baht for the effort, and has contributed two of Thailand's top experts from the Doi Tung project.
Western countries the United States, and especially members of the European Union are unconvinced. Their home governments remain sceptical and even obstructive.``That's mostly because human rights groups are so adamantly opposed to Burma,'' said a diplomat in Bangkok. ``I'm not sure my government would go against those groups to try to compromise.''
The leap in logic that it is possible to help Burma combat drugs while opposing the Rangoon political system is not easy. Burma's past actions in helping drug traffickers and prospering from drug profits make it more difficult.Burma itself has never promised to change its policies or increase its anti-drug efforts. But beginning late last year, Rangoon officials began complaining that they receive no aid to speak of to fight drugs, hinting they could do more if they had more. The country is officially dedicated to wipe out drug production by 2014.
On the other hand, senior drug traffickers have embarrassing freedom of movement and action. The powerful junta leader, ``Secretary One'' Khin Nyunt, flaunts his friendship with notorious heroin warlord Lo and has supported development of Mong Yawn, the world's biggest town ever built to produce illicit drugs.But the optimism about Burma extends far beyond the Thaksin government, which decided last year to hedge its Rangoon relations rather than to confront.
Not everyone is convinced. ``I believe my eyes,'' said a diplomatic source. ``Show me a reduction in methamphetamine production, smuggling and addiction, and I'll praise Rangoon to the skies. Show me a few arrests of a few drug traffickers and money launderers in Burma, and I'll give them credit.''
No one is less impressed than the Thai military. Soldiers are at the sharp end of a difficult fight trying to halt an ant army of drug smugglers carrying millions of speed pills a month into Thailand in small packages.Lt-Gen Pongthep Tesprateep, deputy chief of staff of the Royal Thai Army, said there is no reason for optimism. Last year, Burmese made and smuggled 700 million methamphetamine tablets into Thailand. ``We estimate we seize no more than 15% of the smuggled ya baa, and we estimate the amount of drugs that are smuggled from a neighbouring country will be 800 million tablets this year.''Because of government sensitivity over its Burma policy, military officers now resort to code, but ``neighbouring country'' is not a reference to Malaysia.
The Third Army is unimpressed with diplomatic claims that Burma has suddenly transformed itself from acquiescence in drug trafficking. The force is based in Chiang Rai, and has transformed itself from a regular military corps to an anti-drug force.The Third Army has 65 psychological warfare teams to work against drugs in villages, a highly technical task force operating with American advisers, and a whole new system of trying to protect Thailand from invasion by an army of smugglers, not foreign soldiers.
``The country faces a severe test this year,'' said Gen Pallop Pinmanee at Third Army headquarters last month. The deputy director of the Internal Security Operations Command saw no sign from across the border that Burma was fighting drug trafficking.Well, say the optimists, there have been some.
It all started according to the Theory of Burmese Righteousness last September. Burmese authorities arrested the notorious Chinese drug trafficker Shang Chaomei in Muse, on the Yunnan border, and immediately turned him over to Chinese police, along with 400kg of heroin belonging to Shang.Taken alone, this was barely remarkable. Burmese authorities have arrested drug dealers before, for their own reasons, and returned them to Thailand. They still refuse to arrest Wei Hsueh-kang, Lo Hsing-han or Khun Sa, all wanted in Thailand and other countries.But the Shang arrest began a rare string of drug actions. In September alone, a string of arrests netted 4.7 million speed pills and 361 sellers, including 11 armed traffickers. The opium crop dropped, although a dispute continues over whether this was because of Rangoon action or weather.
After years of sneers, Rangoon has become receptive to Thai offers to help replace opium with cash crops in northern Burma. Last month, a high-ranking team from the Doi Tung project went to the Wa and Shan regions to plan and begin a crop replacement programme.
In addition to committing 20 million baht of taxpayers' money, Thai authorities have assigned the widely respected M.R. Disnadda Dissakul to switch from Doi Tung to Burma for a while. M.R. Disnadda is one of the optimists: ``If crop replacement is expanded, the large amount of drugs believed to be produced there should significantly decrease.'' ``Something has to give,'' said the Bangkok-based diplomat. Wa sources have hinted to well-connected reporters in Chiang Mai that they expect to move their methamphetamine factories from the Mong Yawn area to upper Laos. That would take speed production out of Burma but have no effect on drug trafficking.
It seems too early to credit Burma with any success in the drug projects. The claim by Rangoon that it will fight drug trafficking has faced no major test.One of the strongest will come when Rangoon confronts the senior Wa traffickers, especially Wei and his United Wa State Army. The junta leaders have justified co-operating with the drug cartel on political grounds, meaning that the UWSA agrees not to fight Rangoon.The agreement to tolerate UWSA drug production and trafficking including links to triads and other organised crime will eventually conflict with an anti-drug programme. That is the point where we will learn the Rangoon policy on drug trafficking.