WannaGo Posted November 7, 2009 Report Share Posted November 7, 2009 A little melodramatic, but an interesting story in the New York Times about the drug trade between Myanmar and Thailand. One thing I'm not clear on is the relationship between the Wa army and the ruling junta. Is the dope being used to finance a rebellion, or do the Wa actually support the junta? FANG, Thailand — The heroin and methamphetamine traffickers carry assault weapons and walk briskly through the night, crossing the border in small groups and traveling down a spider’s web of footpaths and dirt roads. So says Ja Saw, a wiry man in his 20s who should know: Two years ago, he was one of them. Mr. Ja Saw spent a year in a Thai prison for trafficking. Now he works as an undercover agent for the Thai military. In his native Myanmar, where he travels periodically to glean intelligence, he is known by another name. “They would kill me immediately if they knew I was a spy,†Mr. Ja Saw, who is from the Wa ethnic group, said in an interview at a remote location several kilometers from the Myanmar border. Thailand’s northern borderland region is ground zero in the country’s efforts to interdict the tons of illicit drugs manufactured in the freewheeling northern reaches of Myanmar. Thailand is also the main international gateway for heroin bound for the streets of Tokyo, Hong Kong, Sydney and other major cities in the region, counternarcotics officials said. More Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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