Burmese media workers talk on narcotics smuggling

Nem Davies

Mizzima News (www.mizzima.com)

April 6, 2006

Members of the exile media organization Burma News International and a group of Indian journalists held a joint press conference yesterday at the Foreign Correspondents Club in New Delhi to address ongoing problems with drug trafficking across the Burma border.

The group—comprising journalists based along Burma’s borders with Thailand, India and Bangladesh—stated that the Burmese military is directly involved in the illicit drug trade and poses a serious threat to Burma’s regional neighbours, particularly India.

BNI’s development secretary told Mizzima that “we would like them (Indian journalists) to understand the illicit drugs problem in Thailand and China, and how it can spread to countries such as India.”

“Recently the drugs factories owned by the United Wa State Army have fallen under military control and moved to central Shan State due to pressure by the Thai and Chinese governments,” said Sao Puen Khan, a senior journalists with the Shan Herald Agency for News, based along the Thai-Burma border.

He added that drug smugglers have been using different routes to cross the Burma border with the support of the Burmese army.

Loa Htaw, an assistant editor with the Thailand-based Independent Mon News Agency said during the press conference that “drug smugglers can not easily cross border checkpoints without the assistance of the Burmese authorities along the Thai-Burma border.”