Reuters-U.S.: No Evidence Myanmar G

[tinkyi@xxxxxxx]

Subject: Reuters-U.S.: No Evidence Myanmar Government In Drug Trade

U.S.: No Evidence Myanmar Government In Drug Trade
07:48 a.m. Feb 27, 1999 Eastern
By Sutin Wannabovorn

BANGKOK, Thailand (Reuters) - Myanmar is the world's largest source of
illicit opium and heroin but there is no evidence its military government as
an institution is involved with drugs, the United States said Saturday.

The State Department's Bureau for International Narcotics and Law
Enforcement said Myanmar's opium production fell by 26 percent last year,
due partly to government efforts to eradicate the crop.

Some 130,300 hectares (321,700 acres) were under opium cultivation in
Myanmar in 1998, capable of yielding up to 1,750 tons of opium gum, the
bureau estimated in a report.

This was Myanmar's lowest production for 10 years, it said.

It takes about 10 tons of opium gum to produce one ton of heroin, narcotics
experts say.

But the U.S. report criticized Myanmar's ruling State Peace and Development
Council (SPDC) for failing to confront powerful drug traffickers in the
country and for making ``little if any effort against money laundering.''

``There is no evidence that the government, on an institutional level, is
involved in the drug trade.

``However, there are persistent and reliable reports that officials,
particularly corrupt army personnel posted in outlying areas, are either
involved in the drug business or are paid to allow the drug business to be
conducted by others,'' the report said.

Most of Myanmar's opium and heroin comes from the notorious Golden Triangle
region on the borders of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand, parts of which are
controlled by insurgent ethnic groups involved in the drugs trade.

Opponents of Myanmar have accused it of involvement with drug traffickers
and pointed to its protection of well-known drug barons such as Khun Sa and
Lo Hsing-han. Khun Sa resides in Yangon and Lo is involved in business in
Myanmar, diplomats say.

The United States, along with most major European countries, boycotted an
Interpol drugs conference in Yangon this week after criticizing Myanmar's
ruling generals for human rights abuses and taking insufficient steps

against the drugs industry.

The Myanmar military said the boycott would hamper the fight against the
drugs trade and claimed it had taken substantial measures against opium and
heroin production.

Myanmar says its opium output totaled 680 tons in 1998 and has forecast
production this year would fall to half that.

The United Nations recently issued figures in line with the U.S. estimates
and said the recent decline in opium production was mainly due to adverse
weather conditions and had less to do with government anti-drugs efforts.

But the U.S. report said the Myanmar government had ''engaged in significant
opium crop eradication efforts in 1998.''

``While the extent of the drug threat from Burma (Myanmar) remained high,
law enforcement efforts, particularly on seizures of amphetamine, show some
improvement, and opium production during 1998 showed a significant
decline,'' it said.

``Burmese counter-narcotic efforts in 1998 made progress with regard to
eradication, increased methamphetamine seizures, and destruction of heroin
refineries,'' it said.