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The Nation (9-9-99)



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<font size=5><b>Police seize two missiles<br>
</font></b><font size=3>CHIANG MAI -- Police have seized two surface-to-air missiles and arrested two men for allegedly trying to sell the weapons to the ethnic Wa army, a senior police officer said yesterday. <br>
Paithoon Phuphae, 31, and Niran Yuenyong, 29, were detained during a raid on their apartment where two Russian-made SAM-7 missiles, each about two metres long, were found, Pol Lt Gen Aram Chanphen said. <br>
Nearly 200 methamphetamines pills were found in their possession. <br>
Niran told police that he had purchased the weapons, which are designed to attack airplanes, from Cambodian soldiers in Aranyaprathet, a border town across from Sa Kaew's Poi Pet district. <br>
Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai said yesterday that authorities will investigate the origin of the weapons, which were believed to have been assembled in Thailand but whose parts came from abroad. <br>
The two men had paid Bt150,000 for each missile and were planning to sell them to the United Wa State Army (UWSA) for Bt600,000. <br>
UWSA, one of the world's largest armed narcotic trafficking groups, is responsible for much of the opium and heroin coming out of the infamous Golden Triangle. <br>
A 10-year-old ceasefire agreement with the military government of Rangoon has allowed the Wa army to expand its drug empire from the Burma-China border to the Thai-Burmese border in the past decade. <br>
Authorities said the Wa is responsible for much of the methamphetamine pills, locally known as ''ya ba'', that are flooding Thailand. <br>
A number of Wa leaders have been convicted by United States court on charges of drug trafficking. <br>
The Thai military has mounted a major suppression effort along the border of northern Thailand and Burma over the past month because of mounting concern over the social impact of the drug on Thailand. <br>
The Nation</td></tr>
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