Elections promised for Myanmar this year have sparked an explosion in drug trafficking into Thailand, as rebel armies, fearful of a final, pre-poll crackdown by the ruling junta, trade heroin and amphetamines for guns.
For decades, rebel armies, most notably the Wa State Army, have financed their fight against the oppressive Myanmar junta by running drugs over the border, from where they are trafficked all over the world.
A decade ago the Golden Triangle between Thailand, Myanmar and Laos supplied half the world’s heroin. Afghanistan now produces more, but drug barons in Myanmar have turned to manufacturing massive quantities of amphetamines and methamphetamines — which can be produced cheaply in small, hidden laboratories, without the need for hectares of exposed land.
Now Myanmar’s illicit drug trade and the country’s flawed electoral process appear set to collide. The junta has promised elections sometime this year, probably in October, though few in the international community expect them to be free or fair. The ruling generals have vowed to bring the rebel armies under their command and turn them into border guard forces before the polls are held.
With the deadline for the Wa to come under central government control gone, its leaders have become increasingly worried about being attacked by government troops. Colonel Peeranate Gatetem, head of the Thai army’s anti-drug Pha Muang task force, said the number of drug runs had increased exponentially in recent months, as a desperate Wa — outnumbered and outgunned by the junta’s troops — prepares to fight.
“This year will be the biggest for amphetamines,” Peeranate said. “In all of last year we intercepted 1.2 million pills. This year, in just six months, already we have seized 5 million.”
He added that they were uncovering what they believe to be only a tiny fraction of what is being brought across the border, by most estimates between 1 percent and 2 percent.
“The amphetamine trade is huge now, we think it will be around 300 million to 400 million pills this year. But it is hard to know,” he said.
Sources from within Myanmar say the drug laboratories are working around the clock, with more under construction. In February, 15 smugglers were intercepted carrying 1.2 million pills between them, and there have been reports of up to 30 Wa soldiers, in full uniform, marching through the forests fully laden.
The UN’s Office on Drugs and Crime has also registered a rise in drug trafficking.
“Minority groups that feel under threat from the central government are using drug trafficking to sustain themselves and keep control of their territories,” UN representative Gary Lewis said.
With the money it is making, Peeranate added, the Wa was arming with surface-to-air missiles bought from China and AK-47 assault rifles.
“They are preparing for war,” he said.
“The Burmese government wants the Wa to disarm, come under government control and become a border guard force. But the Wa will not ever agree to do that, so they are preparing for the government troops to move in on them,” he said.
“They are getting ready to fight. They are selling more and more drugs so they can buy weapons to fight the government,” he said.
The Guardian spoke to Wa soldiers just over the border, in Myanmar, about halfway between the Thai army border camp and Wa camp.
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