2007

Army officers come to terms with drugs

A ten-fold pay rise last year notwithstanding, more and more army men and their families are being forced to look out for themselves and some of them are engaging in poppy cultivation, reports Hawkeye from the border:

Push coming to shove for Kachins

A year after the cross-border timber trade has been closed off by Burma's ruling military junta, the cash-strapped Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) is increasingly becoming dependent on drug production and trade for survival, Hawkeye reports from the Sino-Burma border:

Waland tightens security

Panghsang, the Wa capital, has been undergoing heightened security since some of its trusted members have absconded with public funds the past two weeks, according to reliable sources on the Sino-Burma border.

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UN food agency in Burma: From emergency to protracted operations

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has upgraded its food assistance that began in 2004 to ex-poppy farmers in Shan State...

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Millions of yaba pills on the border

Millions of methamphetamine pills are already lining up on the Thai-Burma border ahead of the Songkran water festival next month to get in, according to a report filed by Hawkeye:

More opium output in the north

Contrary to official claims, northern Shan State that has been under stringent opium ban since the 2001-2002 season is enjoying a bumper crop during the latest season which ended last month, according to sources coming to the border.

Aung Kham Hti

 

Ceasefire group poised between quitting and continuation

The PaO National Army (PNA) that had concluded a ceasefire agreement with Burma's ruling military junta 16 years earlier is in a quandary as the 2007 deadline to declare areas under its sway drug-free draws near, according to a reliable source in southern Shan State.

Bao_Youxiang

 

Sino-Wa border reopened for timber trade

Cross-border timber business between Panghsang, the Wa capital, and China's Meng A, known in Shan as Mong Nga, which was suspended on 26 March 2006, has returned as of yesterday, according to sources from the border.

SSA burns 1.1 million speed pills

The Shan State Army (SSA) South held its third drug bonfire at Loi Kawwan base, opposite Chiangrai at 11:00 this morning.

SSA-Drugs bonfire

 

Drugs bonfire

 

Bonfire triggers inquiry

Information given by the Shan State Army (SSA) South on 6 June during the destruction of 1.1 million speed pills had prompted investigation by the Burma Army's Triangle Region Command, according to border sources.

Weisuehkang

 

Drug lord's death denied

Sources close to the United Wa State Army (UWSA) have rejected rumors circulating yesterday about the recent death of Wei Hsuehkang (also spelled Wei Xuegang), key drug fugitive in Burma wanted by both the United States and Thailand.

Poppy

 

Poppy fields in Southern_SS

 

Poppy fields in Southern SS-2

 

Poppy areas swell in Shan south

As the 26 June deadline drew near, farmers in southern Shan State under the sway of two allied ceasefire groups had appeared to have increased the size of their fields during the last poppy season that ended in March, according to a recent report filed by Ethnic Youth Network Group.

Drug fugitives return

Following Bangkok's plan to re-survey and issue new identity cards for non-citizen residents since April, hundreds of ethnic Chinese and hilltribe people have been coming across the border to receive new identities, according to both civilian and official sources.

New report from SHAN questions drug policies in Burma

To mark the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, SHAN is today launching a new publication, the Shan Drug Watch newsletter, which contains articles exposing continuing widespread poppy-growing in Shan State in areas under Burma Army control and critiquing current drug policies in Burma.

Shan Drug Watch Newsletter

 

Drugs_Watch_2007

 

Burma's War on Drugs: A glass half full, or half empty

Rangoon's 15 year narcotics elimination plan that began in the 1999-2000 poppy season has so far been yielding debatable results, despite "clapping and cheering" from the UN Office of Drugs and Crimes (UNODC),

Four narcs killed

 

Four_narcs_killed

 

Four narcs killed

Four drug enforcement officers went missing on Sunday, 22 July, after a gun battle with an unidentified armed group, according to reports coming from the Thai-Burma border.

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Upsurge across the border expected

The Golden Triangle, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC), may be almost opium free, but areas along the Thai-Burma border appear to have no inkling of it, says a report that recently reached S.H.A.N.

drug-bkk

 

National reconciliation key to resolution

Without peace and national reconciliation, there is no way of eradicating opium in Burma, concluded a forum participated by the UN drug agency, activists and journalists at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand (FCCT) that was held last Wednesday, 12 September.

Images

 

Wa opium ban’s staying power questioned

A study recently published by the Washington-based East-West Center (EWC) has called into question the sustainability of the opium ban imposed since two years earlier at the behest of the UN, China and Burma’s ruling junta.

Interview: Even Burmese soldiers grow poppies

SHAN was up at Loi Taileng, Shan State Army (SSA) South base opposite Maehongson, 7-10 December 2007.