Thai authorities have been warned to prepare for an influx of illicit drugs as traffickers in Burma are anxious to rush top-grade heroin to international markets offering record-high prices, a Shan rebel leader said. Lt-Col Kornchuen, leader of the Shan State Army’s Kengtung Front, said heroin produced from last year’s quality opium crop was fetching the highest prices in 10 years. A measure of 1.6 kilogrammes was selling at 230,000-250, 000 baht, he said.

“I believe as much, or more, heroin than usual will be shipped through Thailand on the way to international markets. And the heroin will be of good quality, with a high purity percentage,” he said.

Lt-Col Kornchuen gave the warning at the recent celebration of Shan National Day at Loi Kaw Wan in Burma, opposite Chiang Rai’s Mae Fa Luang district.

The Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) and the Third Army said they were bracing for trouble.

Janya Saramatcha, the ONCB’s Region 5 director, said China had given advance notice of its decision to launch a major crackdown on narcotics, especially in areas bordering Burma and Laos.

China’s move - sparked by growing rates of HIV/Aids and drug addiction there - is expected to drive drug traffickers to concentrate on international smuggling routes through Thailand instead.

Lt-Col Kornchuen said clandestine drug factories along the Thai-Burmese border normally begin producing opium derivatives this month, after farmers harvest their crops in December and January.

Most factories that produce heroin also produce methamphetamine and “ice”, a crystal form of methamphetamine.

Traffickers now insist buyers take heroin as well as yaa baa, as methamphetamine is locally known, he said.

About 10 kilogrammes of raw opium is needed to produce one kilogramme of refined heroin.

The ONCB estimates that some 50 tonnes of raw opium was made available for heroin production last year. The high yield was due to the favourable weather conditions although the cultivated area was smaller than in the previous year, sources noted.

The ONCB said it had been working closely with the Thai army to prevent an influx of narcotics into the country. Authorities launched intensive drug suppression operations along the Burmese and Lao borders, while keeping a close eye on foreigners from Taiwan and Japan. The rising demand for “ice” in both Taiwan and Japan is not being met at the moment, said Mr Janya.

Third Army commander Lt-Gen Chiradet Kacharat said his units, together with the ONCB and police, had set up checkpoints in 17 northern provinces to curb drug trafficking across the border.

The interim government has instructed both the ONCB and the Third Army not to lower their guard. For this reason, both agencies will also employ full-scale anti-narcotics measures against drug traffickers, Lt-Gen Chiradet said.

Lt-Col Kornchuen of the Shan State Army (SSA) added that his troops would always support the drug suppression operations of the Thai authorities.

The SSA earlier arrested several suspected drug traffickers and handed them over to the Thai army, he said.

Meanwhile, an ONCB source said the war on drugs during the Thaksin government had left a legacy of legal dilemmas.

Authorities were unable to seize assets of suspects who were arrested during the crackdowns because many were acquitted for lack of evidence, the source said.

Thai authorities have been warned to prepare for an influx of illicit drugs as traffickers in Burma are anxious to rush top-grade heroin to international markets offering record-high prices, a Shan rebel leader said. Lt-Col Kornchuen, leader of the Shan State Army's Kengtung Front, said heroin produced from last year's quality opium crop was fetching the highest prices in 10 years. A measure of 1.6 kilogrammes was selling at 230,000-250,000 baht, he said.

''I believe as much, or more, heroin than usual will be shipped through Thailand on the way to international markets. And the heroin will be of good quality, with a high purity percentage,'' he said.

Lt-Col Kornchuen gave the warning at the recent celebration of Shan National Day at Loi Kaw Wan in Burma, opposite Chiang Rai's Mae Fa Luang district.

The Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) and the Third Army said they were bracing for trouble.

Janya Saramatcha, the ONCB's Region 5 director, said China had given advance notice of its decision to launch a major crackdown on narcotics, especially in areas bordering Burma and Laos.

China's move - sparked by growing rates of HIV/Aids and drug addiction there - is expected to drive drug traffickers to concentrate on international smuggling routes through Thailand instead.

Lt-Col Kornchuen said clandestine drug factories along the Thai-Burmese border normally begin producing opium derivatives this month, after farmers harvest their crops in December and January.

Most factories that produce heroin also produce methamphetamine and ''ice'', a crystal form of methamphetamine.

Traffickers now insist buyers take heroin as well as yaa baa, as methamphetamine is locally known, he said.

About 10 kilogrammes of raw opium is needed to produce one kilogramme of refined heroin.

The ONCB estimates that some 50 tonnes of raw opium was made available for heroin production last year. The high yield was due to the favourable weather conditions although the cultivated area was smaller than in the previous year, sources noted.

The ONCB said it had been working closely with the Thai army to prevent an influx of narcotics into the country. Authorities launched intensive drug suppression operations along the Burmese and Lao borders, while keeping a close eye on foreigners from Taiwan and Japan. The rising demand for ''ice'' in both Taiwan and Japan is not being met at the moment, said Mr Janya.

Third Army commander Lt-Gen Chiradet Kacharat said his units, together with the ONCB and police, had set up checkpoints in 17 northern provinces to curb drug trafficking across the border.

The interim government has instructed both the ONCB and the Third Army not to lower their guard. For this reason, both agencies will also employ full-scale anti-narcotics measures against drug traffickers, Lt-Gen Chiradet said.

Lt-Col Kornchuen of the Shan State Army (SSA) added that his troops would always support the drug suppression operations of the Thai authorities.

The SSA earlier arrested several suspected drug traffickers and handed them over to the Thai army, he said.

Meanwhile, an ONCB source said the war on drugs during the Thaksin government had left a legacy of legal dilemmas.

Authorities were unable to seize assets of suspects who were arrested during the crackdowns because many were acquitted for lack of evidence, the source said.

With the previous government's war on drugs now sunk into oblivion, there is hardly any news coming from the border areas where drug smugglers once plied their trade. Have methamphetamines, heroin and other addictive drugs stopped flowing into Thailand? Not at all, according to statistics provided by the Police Narcotics Suppression Bureau (NSB).

"During the past year, we seized millions of methamphetamine tablets and hundreds of kilogrammes of heroin," said Police Maj-Gen Amaresrit Wattanavibool, commander of the NSB's Division 1, whose jurisdiction covers Bangkok and all provinces under provincial police regions 1, 2 and 3.

"In fact, we have to increase surveillance and recruit more informants as smugglers have adopted new methods to evade our dragnets," he said.

His view is shared by security officials working along the Thai-Burmese border, who believe the price of high-grade heroin produced at clandestine labs will be higher this year. Premium heroin produced in the Shan State of Burma now fetches about 500 baht per gramme in northern Thailand. Dealers make a much bigger profit in the US, Europe and Australia.

In this year's first big drug haul, a joint army-police task force seized 9.4 kilogrammes of high-grade, No.4 heroin and 7.5 kilogrammes of raw opium from three smugglers on a highway in the northern province of Chiang Mai on January 24. It is believed that the drugs were destined for southern Thailand en route to a foreign destination.

While heroin and methamphetamines are still smuggled through the Thai-Burmese border, a number of drug producers had switched their traditional drug smuggling routes to the border with Laos. In this modus operandi, which had already begun before the Thaksin government launched its war on drugs in 2003, methamphetamine tablets originating from the Shan State make their way across the Mekong River to Muang Mom in the Laotian province of Bo Kaeo, where they are kept for further delivery.

In 2005, Laotian authorities seized a total of around two million methamphetamine tablets en route from Muang Mom down to the capital Vientiane. The traffickers use intra-provincial roads to transport the drugs before they cross the Mekong, and then make a delivery to Thai dealers living in villages along the river in Nong Khai and Ubon Ratchathani provinces.

Pol Maj-Gen Amaresrit said smugglers were no longer bringing in large quantities of methamphetamines like in the past, when authorities seized a million or half a million meth tablets in a single operation. "Now we can't find over 100,000 meth tablets, and heroin seizures are much smaller as well," said the officer. "Instead of bringing in a large amount of drugs, they smuggle in small quantities and this obviously doesn't make big headlines anymore."

The ring leaders use many couriers in one day, each carrying 2,000-3,000 methamphetamine tablets. "Last year, we stopped a bus from Nong Khai in Nakhon Ratchasima and found 10 Laotians with valid passports each carrying 3,000 methamphetamine tablets," said Pol Maj-Gen Amaresrit.

"Had they made it to Bangkok, they would have delivered 30,000 meth tablets to the slums in Klong Toey or Don Muang."

For their own safety, the big suppliers in Burma and Laos no longer cross the border into Thailand. Buyers must come to the border, check into a hotel and wait for a telephone call. If they agree on the price, the buyer will transfer money to the supplier's bank account and wait for another call. The goods are normally delivered around 3 a.m.

"Our undercover agents can seize the drugs and arrest the delivery man, but not the big supplier," said Pol Maj-Gen Amaresrit.

CHINESE PRESSURE PAYING OFF

With Afghanistan now a major heroin producer, Burma and Laos account for less than 20 percent of the world's opium output, according to Pol Maj-Gen Amaresrit. "This is good news for us," he said, adding that pressure from China was behind the opium output reduction in its two neighbouring countries.China's anti-narcotic agencies are doing a very good job in suppressing drug trafficking and prosecuting drug dealers, said Pol Maj-Gen Amaresrit.

In a wider context, regional and international cooperation is important for a successful campaign against the drug scourge. In Burma, the problem is complicated by the existence of insurgent groups still fighting the military government in Rangoon.

In its annual International Narcotic Control Strategy Report (INCSR) released on March 1, 2006, the US Department of State said: "Most ATS (amphetamine type stimulants) and heroin in Burma are produced in small, mobile labs located in the Burma/China and Burma/Thailand border areas, primarily in territories controlled by active or former insurgent groups. A growing amount of methamphetamine is reportedly produced in labs co-located with heroin refineries in areas controlled by the UWSA, the ethnic Chinese Kokang, and the Shan State Army-South (SSA-S)."

This is not the first time that the INCSR has accused the SSA-S for drug involvement. The group's name appeared for the first time in its 2002 survey report published on March 1, 2003.

Speaking at a press conference in Kengtung, Eastern Shan State, on August 14, 2006, Burma's Information Minister Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan accused the SSA-S of continuing to produce and deal in drugs. However, he praised the UWSA (United Wa State Army), saying "the Wa group, like the others, can be found actively taking part in the anti-drug activities."

Khurhsen Heng-awn, spokeswoman for the Restoration Council of Shan State, the political arm of the SSA-S, defended the group's record in her response to the INCSR accusation on March 2, 2006: "We are ready to escort them on a tour that will reveal to them where the refineries are and where they are not. Any international agency which doubts our integrity is welcome for an inspection trip to our operational areas."

SSA-S leader Colonel Yawd Serk vehemently rejected the INCSR accusation, but admitted during press interviews with Thai and foreign media that it is possible that some of his group members might still be engaging in the drug trade.

An exiled Shan leader said bluntly: "Every group in the Shan State, either pro- or anti-government, is in one way or another involved in the drug trade. How could they survive otherwise?"