MOUNTAINS OF DRUGS

Despite opium poppy eradication programmes and tougher drug suppression
methods in Thailand and China, heroin and methamphetamines continue to pour
out of the Wa-controlled high country of northern Burma

After a six-hour-long journey by taxi from Jinghong, the principal city of
China's southern Yunnan province, we reached the border town of Mong Ah,
where a bridge over the Namkam River separates it from Pangsang, the
capital city of the Wa region in northern Burma.

Along the road that cuts through mist-shrouded mountains dotted with
hilltribe villages, we came across some luxury right-hand drive cars,
including the expensive Mitsubishi Pajero and Honda SUV models, with number
plates bearing the initials "NW", for North Wa. This is in sharp contrast
to a small army of motorcycles, motorised rickshaws, and noisy tractors and
trucks that were conspicuous in all the towns we passed through. Local
villagers must be wondering what kind of business the Pajero drivers do to
possess such expensive vehicles.

We were stopped two times at military and police checkpoints where
courteous but stone-faced officers searched our taxi and luggage, carefully
examining our passports and recording all information in a log-book. One of
us had made several trips to Mong Ah but had never encountered such
checkpoints, obviously designed to keep track of outsiders who come near
the Wa region, which is officially called the Special Region 2 of the Shan
State in Burma (Myanmar).

Most of the illicit drugs, including heroin and methamphetamine, are
smuggled from the Wa regions into Yunnan province. Perhaps the relatively
good road we travelled on makes it popular for drug smugglers.

The opium harvest season is due to begin in a couple of weeks and it lasts
until March. Raw opium is refined into heroin and finds its way to various
parts of China, India, Laos, Thailand, and then further to Australia,
Europe and the United States. That might be another reason for the checkpoints.

A Wa businessman who returned from the northern Wa region said: "I saw
large opium fields around Mongpeng, Mongpawk, Monglar towns and other
places. Moreover, some United Wa State Army (UWSA) officials told me that
the upcoming opium harvest would be slightly reduced from 2003. But as for
the 2005 deadline set by the Wa leadership to completely eradicate opium
growing in all Wa regions, I don't think it is realistic."

With the exception of a few overly-optimistic Wa leaders, including UWSA
chairman Pau You Chang, everyone else is pessimistic, said the businessman.
"Some Wa leaders have called for postponement of the deadline to 2007. Many
opium growers, who are also smokers, are extremely poor. They know only how
to cultivate opium and nothing else. They can't survive otherwise."

His assessment is shared by many anti-narcotics experts who say that unless
there are some "very drastic" happenings in the next two years, opium
growing can't be eradicated by 2005.

"To be fair to the UWSA," said a well-informed Shan drug-watcher, "it is an
indisputable fact that they succeeded in the eradication of many opium
fields, but when this was done, the production of methamphetamines jumped
dramatically, making up for the financial loss. So, we are back to square one."

And there is another piece of bad news, he said. Cheap ecstasy pills and a
synthetic drug called "ice" are now produced in the Wa region. Samples of
the drugs might soon be smuggled into Thailand, he added.

"Ice" is a translucent crystal, smokable form of methamphetamine. It is
also called "glass" or "crystal" and, like other stimulants, it is highly
addictive.

According to the Shan source, the Wa region is controlled by only nine
people, led by Pau You Chang. "No one can do anything without his
permission and he knows everything," said the source.

But in practice, added the source, Pau You Chang does not have much
influence in the southern Wa region where his elder brother, Pau You Yi,
reigns in the presence of powerful drug kingpin Wei Hseuh-kang and his two
brothers.

China Crackdown

China gives military and economic support to the UWSA and its political
wing, the United Wa State Party. But it has begun to lose patience with the
Wa drug makers because of the continuous flow of narcotics into China. "We
have been trying quietly to convince the Wa leaders that they should stop
the drug gangs whose activities adversely affect the economic development
and prosperity of our country," a Yunnan official said, adding that China
has financed crop substitution and other projects in the Wa regions for
about eight years.

Thailand also finances the Wa's crop substitution programmes. In fact, Thai
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is scheduled to visit Yong Kha town in
the southern Wa region on December 26, where he will inspect a project
which received 20 million baht from the Thai government. More such projects
are likely to be supported to encourage Wa tribesmen to switch from opium
to other cash crops or animal husbandry. Some industrial projects to create
more jobs have also been initiated.

The Burmese government has been making continuous efforts to reduce opium
cultivation, as well as heroin and methamphetamine manufacturing, in Burma.
These efforts were made through its anti-narcotic agency, the Central
Committee for Drug Abuse, and the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime
(UNODC), which has an office in Rangoon.

Burma's campaign against drugs has been recognised by Chinese officials.

Sun Dahong, secretary-general of the Yunnan Provincial Drug Control
Commission, said: "The police cracked over 11,000 cases, with 13,700 people
arrested on drug-related charges in 2001, and over 10 tons of drugs seized."

"Thanks to the Myanmar police, some big cases were solved," he added. One
such case was the discovery of a heroin processing factory in the Kokang
region that resulted in the seizure of 53 tons of medicaments, a large
quantity of drugs and processing equipment.

A year earlier, Yunnan border police investigated 753 drug cases and seized
1,321 kg of drugs and arrested 1,038 traffickers. During March and April of
this year alone, Chinese authorities seized almost 500 kg of heroin from
two trucks near Ruili, in Yunnan. It is estimated that between 300-400 kg
of heroin are smuggled into Yunnan every month as drug use rises in the
province.

Mr Wang Qihua, a section chief of the Drug Control Bureau of the Department
of Public Security in Yunnan province, whose job is to stop precursor
chemicals flowing into heroin and methamphetamine laboratories in the
border regions of Burma, said: "In 2002, we seized 219 tons of precursors
from 44 cases. Of these, 31 cases were destined for Myanmar and two for Laos."

Surprisingly, or maybe not, a high-ranking Yunnan official in Jinghong,
told Perspective that there is no drug problem in the province, and quickly
changed the subject. His denial may signal that the drug situation is
getting worse, and if made public, might damage the flourishing tourism
industry of the province.

Sophisticated Networks

The UNODC stated in its recent report: "Trafficking of heroin through China
has increased significantly over recent years, particularly along the 2,000
km border with Myanmar. Most seizures of Myanmar heroin now take place
particularly in the Yunnan province bordering Myanmar. The Yunnan
Provincial Narcotic Control Committee reported total provincial seizures of
8,000 kg in 2001, almost 3 times more than the year before. The same
province reported seizures of 6,900 kg during 2002. In fact, heroin
seizures in China doubled in 2001 compared to 2000, with 12,300 kg being
seized during 2002."

As drug smuggling continues, Yunnan authorities have to cope with drug
addiction as well.

In 2001, Yunnan had 54,000 registered addicts. Police noted that more and
more drug users were taking synthetic drugs such as "ice."

An ethnic Shan who resides in the southern Wa region told Perspective: "The
Wa farmers, who are very poor, will sell the opium to the buyer who offers
a good price. It will be re-sold to the next bidder and so on until it
reaches the top buyer. Most of the buyers are ethnic Chinese, Kachin, Lisu,
Lahu and Wa. Before, the buyers were primarily Chinese because they had
lots of money."

Because of security concerns, drug factories were moved during the last few
years from the Thai border to isolated areas deep inside the Wa regions
where very few people could enter, said the Shan.

"These mobile facilities are guarded by heavily-armed men. It is now common
that heroin and methamphetamine are made in the same factory. The drug
gangs hire Chinese expert chemists who can produce the best quality drugs,
with some Thais and Chinese financing the production," he added.

Methamphetamine is made first into a block because it is easy to transport
by car, boat or on foot to the Chinese or Thai borders, where it will be
punched into tablets. This can be done almost anywhere and the machine can
be moved so easily that detection is almost impossible, according to the
source.

Some tablet punching is done even inside China and Thailand. The tablets
are stored and sold when requests are made by customers. The tablets come
in three colours: green is the best quality and the most expensive,
followed by orange and the cheapest, a light red colour.

"Drug smuggling from the Shan State to China and Thailand involves a
sophisticated network, with many people and many steps," the Shan source
concluded.

An ethnic Lahu who used to assist in the production of heroin told
Perspective: "Normally four or five chemists, usually Chinese, produce
heroin. They wear protective clothes but are still exposed to the poisonous
chemicals and are able to work for not more than one month. Afterward, they
will take 5-6 months rest. They are well paid and under careful watch by
the gang. The factories are located along the border under the control of
Hong Kong, Taiwanese, Chinese, Wa, Burmese and Kokang people."

The chemicals used in making heroin and methamphetamine normally come from
India, Thailand, Burma and China, but some are manufactured inside the Wa
region, the source said, adding that it is "difficult" to bring the
chemicals to the refinery.

As the front-line nations bordering the Wa regions, China and Thailand must
inevitably shoulder the biggest burdens of the drug scourge and its "side
products", such as crime, Aids infection, death, and broken families, all
of which cause a huge economic and social damage to the two countries.