There has been a marked increase in poppy cultivation in Chin state, in the northwest part of Burma even as the United Nations views Burma as a country which has intensified its anti-drug campaign.

The driving force is the joint activity relating to opium production and trafficking by military authorities and local businessmen from Chin state and Sagain Division in Burma. This is said to compel hill farmers to engage in poppy cultivation. As a result, the farmers have begun to abandon their traditional hill farm cultivation.

Poppy cultivation is done mainly in Lamzang, Taingen, Lemthang, Muanluah, Hai Mual, Old Haimual, Bochung, Singpial and Tuisung village in Tedim Township, remote areas of Tongzang town ship, Falam Township in Chin state and Sakhan Kyi in Kalay town in Sagaing division, according to sources from Indo-burma border.

Farmers in Chin state are said to grow poppy plants in plastic bags hung on the trees in farmlands.

Between May and August 2006, the production of opium from 67 acres of poppy cultivation in Chin state touched around 7546.9 kilograms.

Most prisons across Chin state have people serving long term sentences for drug abuse and trafficking.

Observers said that forced labour, extortion by the military in Chin state have put local farmers in a difficult situation and does not give them enough time for hill farm cultivation. The farmers instead are paying attention to poppy cultivation.

"Year after year we see more drug trafficking across border areas. Most arrested drug traffickers are from Burma," said a staff member of anti-drug agency in Mizoram State, India.

According to the local media in India the issue of drug trafficking and border fencing along the Indo-Burma border will be included in the discussions between Burmese officials during the visit of India's Union Home secretary V K Duggal to Burma between February 13 to 17.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in its statement released last year said that opium cultivation in Burma has declined 34 percent to 21,500 hectares compared to 83 percent on 130,300 hectares in 1998. But Burma still remained the second largest opium producer in the world after Afghanistan.  

The first attempts at poppy cultivation was said to have begun in the period of Ne Win, former Burmese military ruler. But the project failed due to the intervention of a Chin students group.

Over 8,000 amphetamines tablets were seized and a smuggler arrested by the New Mon State Party (NMSP) in Three Pagodas Pass (TPP) Township near the Thai-Burma Border on Saturday, according to the NMSP’s anti drug department.

The anti drug department authorities arrested the smuggler Nai Kyar Lon with 8,834 amphetamine tablets at 4:30 p.m. in the area under their control between the Japanese well village (Palaing-Japan village) and the Thai border military check point, said an officer of the department.

“It is the first arrest by the party this year,” he added.

The smuggler has been identified as a Karen ethnic villager. But NMSP anti drug authorities suspect that the smuggler is related to the local base of the ethnic armed group.

While the NMSP has detained the smuggler, it is yet to decide how they will charge him.  Earlier the NMSP used to hand over smugglers to the Thai border military authorities after arrest.

The TPP border Township is under the administrative control of the Burmese military government. Ethnic cease-fire groups including the NMSP, Karen Peace of Front (KPF), Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) are also based in TPP and have some control over the area.

The majority of residents in TPP are ethnic people including Mon, Karen and Shan. Most of the families depend on logging and furniture trade for their survival.

The NMSP, in a bid to stop narcotics smuggling in their area of control set up the anti drug department in 2002. Thai border military authorities have encouraged the NMSP to take action against narcotics smuggling in keeping with the Thai government’s policy of “War on Drugs”.

After the NMSP started taking action against narcotics smuggling, the TPP border, especially in the NMSP controlled areas there has been less drug smuggling and fewer arrests in the Thai military border check point.

In the past, at least 10 smugglers were arrested yearly at the Thai military border check point and it was easier to access drugs on the TPP border.