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Dawn March 13th, ABSDF ( DAWN GWIN
- Subject: Dawn March 13th, ABSDF ( DAWN GWIN
- From: caroline@xxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 13 Apr 1996 06:51:00
Subject: Dawn March 13th, ABSDF ( DAWN GWIN )
Khun Sa, Opium, and Slorc; the National Struggle in the Shan State
The announcement made at the beginning of January 1996, that
Burma's opium warlord Khun Sa
had surrendered to the country's ruling junta, the State Law and Order
Restoration Council (Slorc), caught
virtually all parties by surprise. Since his surrender it has become
clear, as suggested by many Burma
watchers over the years, that Khun Sa's departure will not change the
opium situation in Burma. The
reality that Burma supplies 50% of the world's heroin has never depended
on one man, or one
organization. In the United States, 60% of heroin sold on the streets
originates from the Golden Triangle.
The region has been a major focus of anti-narcotic agencies and
governments for decades, with little
apparent effect. it has been no secret that Khun Sa was involved in the
drug business, but he can hardly
have been thought to be acting alone.
The previous General Ne Win led governments, and the Slorc in
turn, have approached the drug
problem in Burma by playing a two-faced game. Requests from the West for
support to eradicate drugs
and do battle with Khun Sa on one side, and lucrative deals with drug
kingpins on the other. Indeed, it is
almost impossible to think that there has been no involvement by the
junta in the opium trade; Burma's
most lucrative cash crop. Given that Slorc have now secured military
cease-fires with all ethnic rebel
groups where dependence on the opium economy has meant survival, the
surrender of Khun Sa will
ensure that the spotlight again goes back to Rangoon. But will it?
Since Khun Sa's surrender the Slorc have stated that they will
remain a military presence and
will control the territory previously held Khun Sa and his Mong Tai Army
(MTA). Slorc has further
promised that there will be 70% reduction in the flow of heroin from
Burma., now that the prime
growing areas have "joined the legal fold." Time will tell. But given
that the Slorc have repeatedly
reiterated their hatred for the "notorious drugload Khun Sa," and that
their past statements have ruled out
both dialogue and any agreement with him or with the MTA, such
statements must be taken with more
than a grain of salt.
The Shan people are not alone in their struggle with warlords,
the Slorc, and with dependence on
the opium economy. Other ethnic nationalities, such as the WA and Kokang,
have long been involved in
the cultivation of opium to fund their fight for independence from
Rangoon. In the late 1980's, cease-fire
agreements were made by both the Wa and Kokang with Rangoon. In both
areas, the cultivation and sale
of opium continues essentially unchanged. The Slorc used military force
to drive both ethnic groups to
sign these cease-fire agreement; no significant political settlements
have been made.
For years the United States used Khun Sa as their bogeyman of the
Golden Triangle; Khun Sa
was public enemy number one. Other drugloads in the areas, meanwhile,
have become more influential
but have kept much lower profiles. Despite considerable evidence that
other groups and individuals were
involved in the multi-billion dollar industry, there were many who
believed Khun Sa's capture would
severely damage the flow of heroin. The logical next step was that
working closely with the Slorc on anti-
narcotics activities was the only way to have an impact on the export of
heroin. This position did not
accept that the Shan people themselves, or the rank and file of the MTA,
saw their struggle not as a drug
war but as a national struggle for self-determination. There is now an
uncomfortable silence from those
who pushed to empower the Slorc. Anti-narcotic officials are now forced
to admit that Khun Sa's
surrender will likely have little or no impact on the flow of heroin. In
1989 and 1992 indictments were
handed down in New York Courts against Khun Sa. After his surrender, the
Slorc announced that it
would not hand him over to US authorities for extradition and trial. The
US responded by offering US$ 2
million for any information leading to his arrest. According to sources
in Rangoon, the last thing the
authorities would do is hand the drug baron over. This is for the simple
reason that he knows far too
much and would be in a position to expose too many influential people,
including Slorc members,
involved in the trade.
Recent reports published through wire agencies in Bangkok have
revealed that Khun Sa has been
paying a Burmese regional commander a monthly fee of 500,000 kyat a
month. (The black-market rate of
exchange is 110 kyat to the dollar, the official is 6.4 kyat.)
Apparently, in order to secure his surrender
and peaceful retirement, a "large sum" of money was paid to a Burmese
army General. Reports of this
kind have not surfaced so openly in the last several years, but it is
widely known that there are members of
the authorities in Rangoon on the payroll of many drug traders, including
those prominent past Kingpins,
such as Lo Hseing Han.
As this writing, it's time to pick the opium harvest in Burma.
Khun Sa is not there to send his
men to pick, nor are the mule trains lined up to carry the crop through
his territory to his refineries. What
will happen with the thousands of tons of opium currently being picked by
ethnic people, people who now
depend entirely on the business Khun Sa, and others, have created? With
other drug dealers only to ready
to step in, it is unlikely this vast harvest will go to waste. For the
Slorc, their apologists are stating that
this is the time for them to show their sincerity about drug control. And
indeed, it is.
Corrupt Generals are nothing new in Burma, but Slorc control of
the Shan growing regions is
new. it is now up to Slorc to turn off the heroin spigot, if this is
their true intention. the world is waiting.
If heroin continues to flow unabated onto the streets of New York, Los
Angeles, and Rangoon, there will
be only one culprit now. We can only hope the Khun Sa's departure wakes
up all those concerned with the
Golden Triangle heroin problem to its only real solution; an end to the
political crisis in Burma.
Faith Doherty, Southeast Asian Information Network