Drug mart moves west

Drug mart moves west

Partly due to the war against drugs campaign in Thailand, the hub of the area's drug business is moving west of the Mongton-BP-1 highway, opposite Chiangmai's Chiangdao District, according to sources from the border whom S.H.A.N. met last week. 

Nakawngmu, 27 miles north of the border, until recently a thriving town of 1,000 households, has gone 'rusting', after an official order had been quietly issued a few months earlier to the local drug dealers to clear out their businesses. 

Mongjawd, a village 20 miles west of Nakawngmu, has instead been designated the new 'drug capital', they said. 

Mongjawd, spelled Mong Kyawt in some old maps, lies on the way to Pang Maisoong, the scene of fierce fighting between the Burma Army and Shan rebels last year. "It also stands at the gateway to thousands of acres of poppy fields in the area from the Triangle area (Shan State, Karenni and Thailand) in the west to Mongton in the east," said a trader in Nong Ook a.k.a Arunothai, a Thai village opposite BP-1. 

The United Wa State Army's 171th Military Region, commanded by Wei Hsuehkang, had already transferred its headquarters, military training school, guardhouse and warehouses to the village from Hwe Aw and Wanhong, according to them. "There should be no surprise if Mongjawd emerges as the new Mongyawn," said one, referring to the Wa town across Mae Ai District. 

Prior to the relocation on 30 March, a Lahu militia force near Mongjawd led by Janu and a refinery under his protection were raided by the 171th's 3rd Battalion. This event that netted 135 kg of heroin and 210 kg of raw opium among others was later publicized as proof of Wa's non-involvement in drugs. "It was only an attack against a rival gang," snorted another source. 

Drug use

Back in Nakawngmu, a village of 200 households until 1996, the year ex-warlord Khun Sa surrendered, drug prices have dropped as dealers hasten to empty their stocks. 

"3-4 months ago, you could get only 3 pills (of methamphetamine) for 1,000 kyat (40 baht)", said a longtime resident. "But now you can get the same amount for 4,-500 kyat." 

Yaba (methamphetamine) is also being sold in powder-form, according to them. Yaba filled in 11/2 inch long section cut from a plastic straw is said to cost 200 kyat (8 baht). 

As monsoon starts and the paddy season begins, owners of paddy fields are reportedly hiring people to work in the fields. "Each is given K 1,000 - 1,500, fed and also offered yaba pills to make them work harder," said the same source. 

Prices

Opium prices, in the meantime, have climbed back from K. 140,000 per joy (1.6 kg) in the past few months to K. 200,000 in Mongton. "That is the price offered by Chao Ching, Li Hsien and Captain Han Sein (of Infantry Battalion 65)," said a trader. "But we told them the Kokang are buying at K. 220,000 west of the Salween." 

Chao Ching, Li Hsien and Han Sein have long been reported as official drug representatives of the local Burmese command.