The former private secretary of Myanmar drug lord Khun Sa has been arrested in Thailand on the request of the US and is to be extradited to New York, Thai police said.
Yang Wan-hsuan, alias Lao Tai, was arrested on Tuesday in the northern province of Chiang Rai and will be sent to face trial in the US, according to national police chief General Pornsak Durongkavibulya.
"Lao Tai is a very important figure because he was Khun Sa's private secretary and in charge of his finances and investments as well as trafficking in drugs and precious wood," Pornsak said late Wednesday.
PHOTO: AFP
Lao Tai has been indicted for drug trafficking. US authorities had put a US$2 million price on his head.
"He's incarcerated here and will await the extradition process. It's a process that will take several months," said William Snipes, the US Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA) representative for Thailand and Cambodia.
Snipes said Lao Tai was indicted in June 1994 along with about 20 other suspected drug traffickers following a US investigation called "Operation Tiger Trap" that lasted several years.
The charges levelled against Lao Tai include conspiracy to import and distribute heroin in the US.
Snipes said Lao Tai faces a prison term of 20 years for each of the charges against him, but that US authorities will not seek to seize his assets.
Thai police will handle the case until arrangements have been made for his extradition, he added.
According to Thai police, Lao Tai has maintained close links to his former boss Khun Sa, who was until recently seen as the most powerful figure in the notorious golden triangle opium producing area that straddles Myanmar, Thailand and Laos.
Khun Sa ostensibly withdrew from the drugs business in 1996 after the signing of a ceasefire between Myanmar's military junta and his Mon Tai Army, which had been waging a separatist rebellion in eastern Myanmar for two decades.
Also wanted by the US, Khun Sa, 64, now lives in Yangon, apparently with total immunity and under the protection of the secret services.
He is believed to have laundered his drugs profits through Yangon hotels and other business interests that now include mining, transport and farming activities. He is also thought to be seriously ill with diabetes and heart problems.
Many believe Khun Sa is still an influential figure in the drugs trade.
Myanmar government officials do not deny that Khun Sa lives freely in Yangon, but argue that the deal with him was necessary to restrict the production of opium in Shan state, the biggest producer-region.
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