DRUG TRADE RESUMES AT KHUN SA'S EX-BASTION

Villagers Serve As Tools Of Traffickers

The border town of Ban Therd Thai, a former bastion of drug warlord
Khun Sa, has again become a major centre for illicit trade-only now
it's mainly methamphetamines instead of heroin.

The village, in Mae Fa Luang district and also known as Ban Hin Taek,
has fallen under the influence of armed gangs run by drug traffickers
operating from across the border.

Villagers said local authorities, police and administrative officials
in particular, serve as mere tools of the drug traders, who wield a
strong financial influence over them.

In the first six months of this year at least four local residents
were killed by the gangs, villagers said. Two were eliminated because
they tried to turn their backs on the drug trade, and two others
because they were being unco-operative.

A former soldier in the Mong Tai Army, who has returned to Ban Therd
Thai since Khun Sa surrendered to Rangoon two years ago, said many of
his friends had to join the United Wa State Army under Wei Hsueh-Kang.

It was a matter of survival, he said.

The UWSA is building a new town opposite Ban Therd Thai which
authorities say is being paid for from the profits of methamphetamine
trafficking.

"The UWSA soldiers came and threatened us if we did not co-operate,"
the former soldier said.

"Many of my friends managed to flee the village, but most had no
choice. It was join them or die."

Ban Therd Thai had now become a major meeting place for drug traders,
he said.

The Third Army recently closed the San Ton Doo border checkpoint in
nearby Mae Ai district, which intelligence reports said was being used
extensively by drug traffickers.

Shortly afterward, an army patrol clashed with UWSA soldiers in an
area west of Ban Therd Thai and seized four million methamphetamine
pills and 27kg of heroin.

Maj-Gen Chamlong Pothong, deputy commander of the Third Army, said
there have been complaints from Ban Therd Thai villagers that some
government officials in Mae Fa Luang district are taking bribes from
drug traders.

"The area along the 100km stretch of border in Mae Fa Luang district
is reported to be the most heavily infested with methamphetamine
traders in the country," he said.

"The Pha Muang Force, which is responsible for the area, has been
patrolling the mountains along the border and development projects are
planned for border villages. One is now under way already in Mae Hong
Son," Maj-Gen Chamlong said.