BANGKOK, Thailand (AP)
Burmese authorities arrested 481 people last month on drug charges, part of
a steppedup effort against trafficking, the government said Monday.

Narcotics police also seized 359 pounds of opium, 42 pounds of heroin, 59
pounds of marijuana and 35,000 amphetamine tablets, the military government
reported.

Burma is the world's largest producer of opium and its derivative, heroin.
Production of the drugs has increased in recent years, despite a government
crackdown.

Last month, officials publicly burned more than a ton of narcotics that had
been seized between January 1996 and February 1997. During the same period,
authorities arrested 7,345 people nearly all lowlevel traffickers.

APNY072197 1253EDT