MASSIVE DRUGS BUST ON MYANMAR'S BORDER WITH CHINA

Myanmar authorities seized a large quantity of amphetamines and
drug-refining chemicals in a raid near the border with China.

They also destroyed two drug refineries and a clandestine chemical
laboratory in the November 6 raid in Laukkai, a town in the northern Kokang
region, Radio Yangon said in a dispatch monitored here late Friday.

They were acting on a tip-off from Chinese authorities, the report said.

Some 53,000 liters of chemicals used to make drugs, 1.5 kilogrammes (3.3
pounds) of heroin and 276 kilogrammes (607 pounds) of amphetamine paste
were seized in the raid

Ninety kilogrammes (198 pounds) of powdered ephedrine, the main chemical
used in the refining of amphetamines, was also seized, as well as a hand
gun and ammunition.

Eight people were arrested and charged with trafficking in narcotics, a
crime punishable by death in Myanmar.

Two pick-up trucks and local and foreign currency were confiscated from the
suspects.

China, Myanmar and Thailand agreed this year to intensify joint efforts to
stamp out drug smuggling along their common borders.