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POPPY FIELDS ARE NOT DESTROYED





Media Release - 15/99
February 20, 1999
                                    
                                    
                  POPPY FIELDS BELONGING TO THE SPDC'S 
                  ANTI-INSURGENCY GROUPS NOT DESTROYED
  
Anti-insurgency groups formed by Burma's State Peace and
Development Council (SPDC) are heavily involved in growing,
producing and trafficking illicit drugs according to ABSDF
sources on the China-Burma border.    

The Burmese military recently claimed that it was able to destroy
749 acres of poppy fields in the areas of Namkham, Muse,
Tangyang, Laukkai, Mongkoe, Hsenwi (Theinni), Kutkai - all
located in northern Shan State.

A local, who opposed the drug trade, told ABSDF that in reality
many poppy fields were destroyed only after the opium was
scraped. He said that poppy fields that belonged to
anti-insurgency groups were not among those destroyed.

He said that if the military had wished to destroy the fields,
they could have done so easily at the beginning of growing season
because the majority of the poppies are grown in the areas where
the Burmese military and other anti-narcotic forces operate." 

The majority of fields in these areas belong to anti-insurgency
groups, while locals are also allowed to grow opium. The
following are some of the examples;

- Phaung Sai Anti-insurgency organization led by U Khun Myat
stationed at Manpain (otherwise known as "38 mile" camp) has
poppy fields in the areas between Theinni and Kutkai townships.  

- The group under the command of U Khun Yone who is the uncle of
U Khun Myat grows opium in Pansai area.

- The group led by U Kyaw Myint cultivates poppy fields in
Namkham township.

- The group led by U Homlawsan grows opium in Mongkoe area.
- Manpain Anti-insurgency group, composed of remnants of Khun
Sa's Mong Tai Army, owns poppy fields in Muse township.

This finding contradicts the Burmese junta's claim that these
poppy fields were destroyed in the past few months under their
anti-narcotic campaign. 

Many anti-insurgency groups have been formed as village militias
and operate under the auspices of the military junta. Each group
comprises of about 50 members. They are not only involved with
drug trafficking but also encourage locals to grow poppy and then
tax them during the harvest and transportation periods. 


Poppies in these areas were grown around August last year. At the
time of the planting season the Burmese military launched an
anti-drug campaign distributing leaflets written in Chinese,
Burmese, Shan and Kachin languages. The junta also forced the
villagers not to grow opium. 

The poppies however were later grown in the areas away from the
main road and where the plantations could not be seen from the
Chinese border, with the consent of the Burmese army.

Laukkai in Kokant was the area where most of the poppy fields
were
destroyed last year, and Kitawase (a kind of wheat from Japan)
was grown in place of poppy in the  areas around Tashwetan
village in Laukkai District.

However there still remains a lot of poppy fields in the area
under the control of Anti-insurgency groups and other armed
ethnic organizations that have entered into cease-fire agreements
with the regime. 

All Burma Students' Democratic Front

For more information please contact 01-654 4984, 01253 9082