NARCOTICS seized earlier this year and valued by the government at US$436 million were burned at a ceremony in Kengtung in eastern Shan State on August 14.More than 44 kilograms of heroin, 936kg of opium and about 1.2 million metham-phetamine tablets seized in four separate raids near Kengtung in May and June were destroyed. Included were 500,000 methamphetamine tablets and 520kg of opium seized from the Shan State South Army (South) rebel group by members of the Wa national group on May 31. Speaking at the ceremony, Director General of Myanmar Police Force Brigadier General Khin Yi said the Wa seized the drugs and 15 assorted weapons during a raid of two refineries owned by the SSA (South) in the Khampa region of eastern Shan State, which is close to the rebel group’s headquarters. He said the refineries were overrun after a 40-minute skirmish between the two groups that involved 500 soldiers from Wa side and an undetermined number of SSA (South) troops. He said 20 SSA (South) members were killed in the battle. He did not give casualty figures for the Wa. “National groups from the Wa Special Region carried out the raids on their own volition as they want to wipe out drugs from their region,” he said. Brig Gen Khin Yi said the Wa’s commitment to fighting against drugs was demonstrated by their achievement in making the Wa Special Region opium-free last year. “Opium growing has totally stopped in the Wa Special Region, as proven by a survey (jointly conducted by the government’s Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control and United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime) for 2005-2006,” he said. The results of the survey are expected to be released in the next few months.
The drug destruction ceremony was chaired by Secretary (1) of the State Peace and Development Council Lieutenant General Thein Sein. It was attended by government ministers, Yangon-based diplomats, UN officials and journalists who were brought to Kengtung to attend the ceremony. It was the fourth drug-burning ceremony held by the government this year. Nearly 15 million methamphetamine tablets worth US$1.4 million were incinerated in Kengtung in April, followed by the destruction of another cache of drugs worth US$148 million in Yangon on June 26 to mark the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. Another US$47 million in narcotics were burned in the southern Shan State town of Laikha last month. Meanwhile, at a media briefing in Kengtung after the drug burning ceremony, Information Minister Brigadier General Kyaw Hsan said the government had contributed to the development of the Wa region since the two sides reached a peace agreement in 1989, by spending K4.1 billion in development assistance in the area.