RED WA 'GEARING UP' FOR BIG DRUGS PUSH INTO THAILAND

The Pha Muang task force chief-of-staff says 500 Red Wa soldiers are being
trained to provide security for drug caravans expected to head for Thailand
next month.

Col Somsak Nilbanjerdkul said a big push was expected by Red Wa drug
producers to smuggle millions of speed pills into Thailand next month,
especially during Songkran festival.

Up to 500 Red Wa soldiers had been sent for training at a military school
in New Yawn town, opposite Chiang Rai's Mae Fa Luang district.

Ready to be smuggled were about three million speed pills at Ban Na Mon,
opposite Mae Hong Son, two million at a Burmese town opposite Chiang Mai's
Wiang Haeng district, and one million pills at Laos' Bo Keo, opposite
Chiang Rai. The government's war on drugs had curbed the inflow, causing
shortages.

Col Apichart Meesommon, commander of the 5th Cavalry Regiment, said the way
the Red Wa increased the number of soldiers for training to 500 from
100-200, reflected their preparations for drug trafficking. He said there
were up to 50 methamphetamine production sources in Burma along the
northern border including a major one belonging to the Red Wa at Ban Hong.

Pithaya Jinawat, director of Northern Narcotics Control Office, said he
doubted whether the Red Wa would stop producing drugs by 2005, as promised.

A Third Army intelligence officer said the Red Wa's Hong Pang Company in
Burma's Tachilek province was renamed Green Land Company and still being
used for money laundering.