As for the second blow, Thai agents with arrest warrants issued by the Mae Hong Son provincial court on suspicion of drug violations searched the house of 60-year-old former Wa prince and WNA commander, Ta Maha Sang, in Chiang Mai on February 1.
Ta Maha Sang was not there, but his half-brother, Boonjerd Chuenjit, a.k.a. Khun Kaw, was arrested by another team at his Chiang Mai townhouse the same day, for allegedly distributing drugs for Ta Ma Maha Sang and his other half-brother, Maha Ja, and laundering drug money for them.
A source claimed that Ta Maha Sang knew that something might happen to him and managed to join his 100-member strong army in Burma, opposite Mae Aw village of Mae Hong Son province.
``Ta Maha Sang always helps the Thai and the US officials to fight drugs, so why do they want to arrest him? It must be politically motivated,'' claimed one relative, adding, ``He suffers from a serious health problem and cannot survive even one night if he is detained without an oxygen supply.''
A day after the raid, Ta Maha Sang issued a statement rejecting all allegations that he had been a business associate of drug lord Wei Hseuh-kang and Maha Ja. ``The WNA has ceaselessly fought for the liberation of the Wa people from oppression, the right for self-determination and a genuine federal union. This political stand is entirely different from Maha Ja and Wei Hseuh-kang,'' the statement said.
In an unprecedented move, the National Democratic Front, a coalition of nine ethnic armed groups fighting against Rangoon, of which the WNA is a member, issued a statement on March 3 to guarantee Maha Sang's innocence.
Situation will get worse
The third blow came on March 5, when SSA-S captain Htun Wiwatrung-aroon was arrested in sting operation in Chiang Mai in connection with a shipment of heroin bars seized earlier from a Mr. Tima at Pang Mapha district of Mae Hong Song province. Tima was driving a vehicle with the incriminating goods, attempted to shoot his way out and was killed. A source within the SSA-S confirmed that Tima was a driver for the group's leader, Colonel Yawd Serk.
A close aide to Yawd Serk, Mr. Htun, also known as Sai Htun or Mr. Holo, appeared at press conference in Bangkok on March 8, sitting in front of 172 bars of heroin weighing 60 kg.
Everyone who knows him was shocked and doubted if he could organise such a large deal alone.
``He received only a small salary from the SSA-S and was always short of cash. How could he pull off such a big job? He is smart and always careful and dedicated to his boss, who often gave him many important assignments,'' said one of his colleagues.
``One such assignment was a mission to China in 2004 to establish `a relationship and cooperation' with the government. The mission failed and he returned to his base empty handed. The Chinese weren't `impressed' with the SSA-S requests and told him politely to forget it,'' his colleague disclosed further.
The Restoration Council of the Shan State, a political wing of the SSA-S, issued a vaguely worded statement on March 8 which stated: ``Among the SSA rank and files there were deserters, many of them had left with their identity cards.''
Even Yawd Serk's friends thought this effort to establish his innocence was ``unconvincing'' and urged him to come forward and tell the truth about Htun's role in the SSA-S.
Htun arranged a face-to face interview between Yawd Serk and the author, published by the New Era Journal last November, in which he openly criticized the US Drug Enforcement Administration. Said Yawd Serk at that time: ``They have been involved in drug suppression for 50 years and what is the result? They have the resources and authority to suppress but drugs are still increasing. And this is a great concern to us.''
The SPDC and state-controlled media naturally took advantage of Htun's arrest to blast his group, by accusing him of producing and trafficking in drugs under a cover of Shan State liberation group.
The last and the most serious event was a firefight that suddenly erupted between the UWSA's 171th Brigade and the SSA-S in Burma, opposite Pang Mapha district of Mae Hong Son on March 13, which shattered a 3-year-old truce between them. The fighting spread to other places in following days.
The 171th Brigade is under command of Wei Hseuh-kang, who was sentenced to death in absentia for drug trafficking in Thailand in 1993. He is also one of the eight indicted by the US grand jury.
A source close to the Wa leadership reported that Wei had approached the SPDC in February and offered to ``surrender'' with some 200 of his troops in an exchange for protection. He was offer refused unless he agreed to give up all his troops, numbering around 800. Also, he was told he should do something useful for the deal, that is to fight and eliminate the SSA-S drug traffickers.
The UWSA's central command has opposed the fighting because it doesn't want the Was and Shans to kill each other.
Some rumors from the SPDC side claimed that Yawd Serk, in order to repair his tattered reputation, decided to do something bold and attacked Wei's army.
``The situation will get worse and people will die,'' predicted a foreign NGO based in northern Thailand. ``Betrayal, double-agents, informers, reward money, corruption, politics and guns are the mixture that creates problems, and everything is right here,'' he added.
Said a Shan analyst: ``All armed groups in Shan State, no matter what they say, are more or less involved in the drug business. Otherwise, they couldn't survive.
``It is easy for anyone with a gun in Shan State to make money from drugs. I feel sorry for the millions of people who live in my state because a few rogue soldiers give a bad name and image to them.''