Convicted ‘godfather’ of Mekong Naw Kham still has a chance, though slim, of escaping a death sentence, according to sources on the border.

He had withdrawn his guilty plea in court on 20 December after being sentenced for the murder of 13 sailors on the Mekong on 5 October 2011.

Loi Taileng — According to a report filed by the Restoration Council of Shan State / Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA) delegation that returned from a 52-day public consultation trip in December, doing away with drug addiction ranks # 1 in the people’s demands to the country’s leaders.

(Excerpts from RCSS/SSA report)

SHAN received a copy of the compilation of meeting minutes from Restoration Council of Shan State / Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA) while visiting Loi Taileng, the movement’s headquarters, 15-19 January 2013.

More than a decade after demand on it was eclipsed by the cheaper yaba (methamphetamine), heroin is gradually regaining acceptance among all three age groups in Namtu, where the Bawdwin silver mine is located, according to sources there.

According to women in Muse township’s Mongpaw, one reason for official corruption on the Sino-Burmese border, apart from the war and resulting no rule of law, is low pay for the state personnel.

There are a police station, a people’s militia force (PMF) and village and village tract headmen in Mongpaw, a locality of 8 village tracts and 32 villages, with a population of 10,755 and 2,668 households.

Zhou Yongkang, a Standing Committee member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China, while on a 3-day visit to Jinghong, opposite Burma’s Mongla, 27-29 October, expressed hope that judicial authorities there could do solid work in sentencing Naw Kham and his 4 associates, who had stood trial last September for the murders of 13 sailors on the Mekong river on 5 October 2011, reported Xinhua.

Lt-Col Yishay, Lahu militia leader wanted in Thailand on drug charges has announced that he is planning to hold a press conference some time in the near future, according to a news source calling himself Tachilek 4 News.

More details have emerged following SHAN report on 12 October on women in the Sino-Burmese border township of Muse rising against local drug suppliers for local users.

According to the typed report, the over 200 strong Mongpaw Zone People’s Drug Prevention Association was formed on 17 August led by Nang Hsoi, Roi Ja, Esther and Nang Awn. Backed by the Mongpaw People’s Militia Force (PMF), the campaign was launched 3 days later in Manpiang village.