BURMA: GOVERNMENT CLAIMS THAT THAILAND IS SHELTERING DRUG BARON

(7 May 1995) English/Nat

Burma says that one of the most wanted drug barons in the world is being sheltered by Thailand.

Warlord Khun Sa is believed to be responsible for 60 per cent of the heroin that is smuggled into the United States. But Rangoon says that US aid to Thailand is actually helping the drug baron.

Now Burma is threatening to send its troops into Thailand after Khun Sa's Mong Tai army.

These are Burmese military helicopters in the heart of the Golden Triangle.

But this time, they are carrying diplomats, reporters and foreign military attaches.

This is Patumen in Shan State where the Burmese Army has recently taken 38 posts of Khun Sa's Mong Tai Army.

Last week this base was producing heroin but after a battle costing over 100 lives, Burmese troops now nervously guard it.

As American Drug Enforcement agent inspect heroin making equipment, a Japanese military attache examines the captured weapons purchased with drug money.

It took Burmese troops three days to trek here from the nearest road.

But it was political isolation that led the military to fly in the foreign diplomats.

SOUNDBITE:
If we have to tackle it alone we will be talking in years. We don't have a fixed time scale, we are doing what we can with limited resources.
SUPER-CAPTION: Lt Col. Kyaw Thein, Burmese Anti Narcotics Force

Countries like the US have held back assistance to Burma because of concerns over its human rights record.

Instead, America has praised and rewarded Thailand for its efforts to stop the transit of heroin across its borders.

This has angered the Burmese military who showed diplomats seized weapons from Khun Sa's army , clearly supplied from Thailand.

The border town of Tachilek was recently attacked by Khun Sa forces.


Here a Burmese General told the military attaches of China, Japan, Australia and the US that Thai border patrols were allowing Khun Sa forces to escape into Thailand for cash.

SOUNDBITE:
High up Thai officers say they don't allow but lower level allow it. If they pay money they will allow them through, that is true.
SUPER-CAPTION: Gen. Kyaw Win, Burmese Regional Commander

The General claims Khun Sa could be wiped out in three months if the Thais co-operated.

As border tension increases the United Nations Drug Control Programme has sympathy for Burma's frustration.

SOUNDBITE:
By securing refuge over the border he is able to avoid capture. But now the Burmese have captured one more of his strongholds. He's basically being driven out of the country.
SUPER-CAPTION: GERALD MOORE, Director of UN Drug Control Programme

Khun Sa is already wanted in the US for heroin trafficking but Burma says, if caught, he will not be handed to the Americans.

But as the rainy season approaches and fighting slows down, few believe Khun Sa wont be around for the next poppy harvest.

Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter:   / ap_archive  
Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​
Instagram:   / apnews  


You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...