Burma Turns Over Drug Trafficker

[ausgeo@xxxxxxx]

Burma Turns Over Drug Trafficker 

Saturday, May 17, 1997 

RANGOON, Burma (AP) -- A Burmese man wanted on charges of organizing the 
third-largest shipment of heroin ever seized in the United States was turned 
over Saturday to Thai authorities. 

Burma's military junta  said Li Yun-chung was flown to Bangkok aboard a 
special Thai Air Force aircraft. Li fled to Burma last month after failing to 
appear in a Thai court on drug-related charges. 

Li was indicted in U.S. District Court in New York in May 1996 in connection 
with 1,070 pounds of heroin, worth an estimated $50 million, seized in 
Hayward, Calif., in 1991. 

It was not known whether Thai authorities would transfer Li to U.S. custody to 
face those charges. 

Li, also known as Phongsak Rogjanasakul, has been described as a key aide to 
onetime Burmese drug warlord Khun Sa, who is believed to be living in Rangoon 
after surrendering to Burmese authorities. Khun also is wanted on drug-related 
charges in the United States. 

In its statement, the SLORC said Li was turned over to the Thais to promote 
good relations and to aid drug-fighting efforts in the region. 

Li, who owns a textile factory in Thailand, was arrested in Thailand last July 
on a U.S. request. Thai police and U.S. officials were shocked when a court 
released him on $200,000 bail -- and not surprised when he failed to show up 
for a court hearing in March. 

The Burmese government did not say when or how Li, 57, was apprehended. 

Burma is the world's largest producer of illicit opium, from which heroin is 
refined. Most of the opium is grown in areas only nominally controlled by the 
government. 

Burma and the United States have recently been at odds. The Clinton 
administration last month banned new U.S. investment in Burma, citing the 
government's harsh treatment of its democratic opposition. 

The sanctions were bitterly criticized by the government but praised by 
Burma's pro-democracy leader, Daw  Aung San Suu Kyi.