Dutch Daily Trouw on Interpol

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The Netherlands daily "Trouw" has on its front page (one of the four main
articles on this front page) an article on the Dutch ban over the
confernence. Here is a rough translation:

Trouw, 28 Jan 1999

head: Police steers clear of drugmeeting in Burma 
underlined: Conference 

Amsterdam - The Netherlands will not send delegates to a drugsconference
organised by Interpol, in late February in Rangoon, the capital of Burma.
The conference is internationally disputed since the host country is
alledgedly closely co-operating with drugbarons in the Burmese jungle. 
For political reasons the Netherlands does not want to send police
delegates to the conference. As long as the regime is not making any
progress in the areas of human rights, decmracy and national
reconciliation, the Netherlands wants to minimize official contacts. Other
European countries will send delegates to the Interpol-conference. Belgium
for example, that has warned its police officials that Burma will try to
use the conference to improve its political image. 
The Burmese government in exile states that Interpol is co-operation with
the legitimization of the Burmese junta's generals. But according to the
international police organisation is the conference not about politics.
Interpol wants to co-operate closely with the Burmese regiem in the fight
against drugs. 
Burma is the worlds largest producer of heroin. After the generals came to
power in 1988 the production of opium doubled. The refined heroine is
mostly ending up in the United States. Recently also the production of
amphetamines has increased. 
The Burmese authorities remain that they do everything they can to stop the
production of opium and its trade. They regularly report the burning or
confiscation of large quantities of drugs. Western narcotic-experts point
out that these actions are not structural, and that Burma's economy is more
and more based on drug-dollars. 
The generals have close ties with the opium barons. The infamous drugbaron
Khun Sa has since 1996 not lived in the jungle, but in a luxerious house in
Rangoon. Also other drugbarons are polulair guests at state-banquettes and
state wedding ceremonies. 
The Golden Guide of Rangoon is also a who-is-who in the opiumcountry.
Drugprofits are laundered by building hotels, shoppingmalls, business
centres and roads. More and more clues are pointing towards the laundering
of drugmoney by state-companies to keep the economy going. 
Ironically nobody knows for sure whether the participants of the conference
will or will not rest their heads in a hotel built with drugmoney.