No.01 - 04/2006

2 April 2006

Drugs

Passages to India

India in many ways may be more advanced than the military-ruled Burma, but when it comes to drugs it is merely a pathetic recipient of refined products manufactured by its poorer neighbor from raw materials it is supplying, according insider sources coming from the India-Burma border.

Ethnic Chinese operators who are based in Kalemyo south of the Tamu-Moreh border offer a case in point. They have for years been running their business affairs under the banner of the Kachin Defense Army (KDA), a ceasefire group reportedly much in favor with the regime. Apart from managing the local Chay lottery (where players bet on the last 3 numbers of the bi-monthly results of Thai lottery), their establishment doubles as importer of chemical precursors from India and exporter of heroin and methamphetamines from Burma.

The KDA is certainly not a loner there. Many other ceasefire and militia groups from Shan State are all scattered along Burma's western border: Kokang, Wa, Manpang and Panhsay being the most prominent. "Almost all of them are ethnic Chinese, even though they may claim to be members of different ethnic groups in Burma," said an informed visitor from Sagaing.

According to the sources, there are at least 6 main routes going into India, with which Burma shares a 1,331 km border: