Shan Drug Watch Newsletter

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Sub-title: It was utterly senseless, calling it Yangon Village Centre when it’s hundreds of miles away from the country’s economic capital. But then, everything in the place defies logic. Senseless.
Description: "The roofed enclosure was the size of two 40-foot steel cargo containers patched together with galvanised iron sheets and wood. The wooden door was locked with an iron chain. Emblazoned on the door were the words, “No one will get addicted because of me,” written in white on a red background. Whatever that means. Inside the building was just a huge open space with a concrete floor where there were dozens of people. Some were sleeping on worn-out beds, while others were just staring at the ceiling, unmindful of the pair of prying eyes staring at them inquisitively. Still others sat on their beds, or on the floor, lost in their own thoughts, indifferent to the misery around them. Moving closer to the gaunt, dishevelled men lying on their beds, one couldn’t help but notice the chains around their ankles..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
2019-10-02
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Myanmar's Shan State is the epicentre of the global methamphetamine supply and the export of the illegal drug is about to get even easier, warns a new report from the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG). Shan State, a centre of conflict and illicit drug production since 1950, is controlled partly by Myanmar’s army, the Tatmadaw, and partly by multiple armed militias, some with the patronage of the Tatmadaw. "Good infrastructure, proximity to precursor supplies from China and safe haven provided by pro-government militias and in rebel-held enclaves have also made it a major global source of high purity crystal meth," says the 36-page report titled Fire And Ice: Conflict And Drugs In Myanmar's Shan State. "Production takes place in safe havens held by militias and other paramilitary units allied with the Myanmar military, as well as in enclaves controlled by non-state armed groups," the report says. The report is only the latest in a string of studies and warnings in recent years, over the proliferation of meth from Shan State, whose drug industry has seen only growth. There have been record seizures of meth in the last two years beyond the immediate region - 1.2 tonnes in Western Australia; 0.9 tonnes in Melbourne; 1.6 tonnes in Indonesia; 1.2 tonnes in Malaysia..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "The Straits Times" (Singapore)
2019-01-08
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: Message to the Reader... Countdown to 2014... Results of SDW opium survey: 2010-2011 season... 2010-2011: The best output in 3 years ... Poppy fields return to the north ... How to deal in drugs without fear ... Naw Kham: Who is he serving? ... Druglords in Parliament ... Restless neighbors ... Loan wolves ... Crop substitution for whom? ... Rising drug use ... How drugs are taken ... Taking action against offenders
Source/publisher: Shan Herald Agency for News (S.H.A.N.)
2011-10-00
Date of entry/update: 2012-07-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Political settlement: A win-win solution for all... 2011-12 opium season: More output... More poppy destroyed, more grown... Mekong godfather run down ... Burma Army makes record seizure but owner gets away... Chemists displaced by war moving east... Drug use unstoppable in Shan State North... SSA: Cooperation from Burma Army essential against drugs... Drug production and abuse come together... Book Review: The Hunt for Khun Sa
Source/publisher: Shan Herald Agency for News (S.H.A.N.)
2012-06-26
Date of entry/update: 2012-07-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Contents: Message from the Editor; Acreage up, output down; Junta?s drug elimination plan way behind schedule; Results of S.H.A.N.?s survey of opium cultivation during the 2009-2010 season; Burma Army ?draws pay from the hills?; Drug-free Burma by 2014?; Lower opium prices despite poor harvest; Junta militias stepping into the Wa vacuum; Poor addicts face jail, rich go free; Wa still the whipping boy of the Triangle; Rise of the new ?politically correct? drug bosses; Yaba flooding Shan State; Crop substitution for whom? Drug smugglers using ever new tricks
Source/publisher: Shan Herald Agency for News (S.H.A.N.)
2010-10-00
Date of entry/update: 2010-10-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 1.27 MB
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Description: Contents: Ten Years After (S.H.A.N evaluates the first decade of the 15-year drug eradication policy undertaken by Burma?s ruling State Peace and Development Council in 1999)... Evaluating SPDC?s 15-year master drug elimination plan (After ten years, according to S.H.A.N research, the regime has failed to eradicate opium in 29 of the 51 targeted townships)... Update for 2007-2008 (S.H.A.N summarizes developments in Burma?s drug trade from June 26, 2007 to June 26, 2008 so as to provide an update to our 2007 Drug Watch newsletter)... Wa vow to hang on ("According to a Shan Drug Watch interview on 18 April, 2009, the Wa are finding it increasingly difficult to return to poppy cultivation...")... Want to pluck the moon? Try glue sniffing ("Glue sniffing has been becoming a new phenomenon among youth in Shan State replacing other drugs, according to several sources...")... Generals? offspring involved in drug scandal ... Naw Kham - Back in action ("On 18 February 2009, a Chinese cargo ship on the Mekong was shot up and one of its crew members killed and at least three others wounded: The blame was placed on Naw Kham, 48, a former Mong Tai Army (MTA) officer, who has been running a protection racket in the Golden Triangle, where Burma, Laos and Thailand meet. Until 2007, the Burmese side of the Triangle was an operational area of the anti- Naypyitaw Shan State Army (SSA) ?South?. But during the year, the SSA was chased out by the Burma Army. The resultant vacuum was filled up by Naw Kham, who had become a pro-junta militia chief, and later went underground in 2006...")
Source/publisher: Shan Herald Agency for News (S.H.A.N.)
2009-06-00
Date of entry/update: 2009-06-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 1.61 MB
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Description: Wa sacrifice at what price? Two years on, the opium ban in the Wa region is causing growing social problems... Smell of drug trade lingers in Panghsang: Millions of pills continue to be traded behind closed doors in the Wa capital... Burma Army members increasingly turning to poppygrowing: Cash-strapped Burmese soldiers are now not only taxing but also growing opium... Opium ban drives Wa into drug fugitive Wei?s hands: Facing financial difficulty after the opium ban, Wa leaders have resorted to appointing druglord Wei Hsuehkang in charge of trade in the Wa area... Druglord given public land: Wei Hsuehkang has been presented 2,000 acres of land seized from local farmers by the junta... Flying the Burmese flag to sell drugs: A pro-junta militia on the China-Burma border is openly selling drugs to Chinese customers... The politics of drug eradication in Shan State: A map showing political divisions in northern Shan State gives the lie to UNODC claims that areas under Burma Army control are mostly poppy-free... Really poppy-free? A random survey by SHAN finds ongoing poppy-growing in northern Shan townships designated as "poppy-free" by UNODC... More opium output in the north: Opium output has increased in areas of northern Shan State controlled by the Burma Army and its allies... Druglord appointed Namkham USDA leader: Notorious Chinese druglord Pansay Kyaw Myint is rewarded for his loyalty to SPDC leaders... A model of SPDC drug eradication? Photos of Special Region # 4 in E Shan State reveal the continuing gulf between rich and poor despite being proclaimed a successful drug eradication area by SPDC... Poppy areas swell in Shan State deep south: Opium growing areas have swelled by 50% in Hsihseng, Mawkmai and Faikhun townships during the past season.
Source/publisher: Shan Herald Agency for News (S.H.A.N.)
2007-06-00
Date of entry/update: 2007-06-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 627.47 KB
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