[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index ][Thread Index ]

Drugbuster lack funds



Drugbuster lack funds

19.2.98
Bangkok Post

Thai anti-narcotics officials have worked hard to secure the cooperation of
their Burmese counterparts to bust heroin refineries and mushrooming
amphetamine factories located just inside their territory.

The Burmese did not allow armed Thai police and soldiers to conduct
operations against the criminals on their soil even though they did not
have the funds, the manpower, nor the will to do it themselves.

Therefore, since 1996 Thai authorities have helplessly watched millions of
amphetamine tablets flow into the country from factories located just
metres away in Burma.

However, late last year the Burmese government quietly agreed not only to
share  intelligence and follow up leads obtained from informants and
arrested suspects, but to assist the Thai authorities in crossborder
operations.

An administrative centre with representatives from both countries is being
set up. A decision is pending whether it will be housed by the Naresuan
Task Force or by the 33rd Infantry Regiment at Kavira Camp in Chiang Mai.

Analysts said the key reasons for Rangoon's change of mind was that it
wanted to demonstrate its seriousness in fighting drugs and to strengthen
relations with Thailand. However, even more importantly the Burmese
military government wants to counter the lucrative drug trade run by the
ethnic minorities, and especially the Wa, which is helping to strengthen
their struggle for greater autonomy from Rangoon.

Unfortunately for both Thai antinarcotics officials and cash-strapped
Rangoon these joint operations may never take place. There is simply no money.

"We were planning an operation in which Burmese soldiers would surround the
factories and we move in, but there's no money," said a senior narcotics
police officer. "We're not sure whether the Americans would fund it," he said.

Washington is said to be interested in dealing with the drug problem in
Burma, which is the biggest supplier of heroin in the world, and not with
Thailand's amphetamine problem. However, some American assistance was given
at around New Year when 30 US
Special Forces men were in the country to train Thailand's Border Patrol
Police in the North.