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| Published in Washington, D.C. July 16, 2000 www.washtimes.com |
By Richard S. Ehrlich
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
BANGKOK, Thailand -- The top U.S. drug enforcement official in Thailand is warning that a failure to control Burma's rebellious Wa tribe is partly responsible for growing shipments of the addictive methamphetamine known as "speed" into the United States.
The drug, frequently marketed by motorcycle gangs in the United States, "represents the fastest growing drug threat in America today," according to documents prepared by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
In Southeast Asia, much of the DEA's focus is on the biggest speed traffickers in the region, Burma's dreaded ethnic Wa, who formerly enjoyed headhunting until they were influenced by American Baptist missionaries.
"They are in an area that we don't have any access to. They are major producers of methamphetamine and heroin," said William J. Snipes, chief of DEA operations in Thailand.
Inside the heavily-fortified U.S. Embassy, hand-carved souvenir opium pipes decorate Mr. Snipes's office, alongside police emblems and a large anti-heroin poster.
That's because much of the DEA's work in Thailand is to stop heroin coming from Wa strongholds, and elsewhere in the so-called Golden Triangle region where Thailand, Burma and Laos meet.
But methamphetamine is now the drug of choice for the armed Wa tribe which controls clandestine drug labs and smuggling routes in rebel-held northeast Burma's Shan state, around its base at Mong Yawn town.
"The traffickers, or producers of meth, our information is, that a large portion of it is being produced across the border in Burma," Mr. Snipes said in an interview. "Our mission here is to (also) investigate organizations that are smuggling heroin into the United States. We are working on organizations that produce both methamphetamine and heroin, the same organizations," Mr. Snipes said.
More than 40,000 Burmese speed pills arrived last year in California, but Mr. Snipes said that was not much compared with U.S. biker gangs who are believed to make methamphetamine in America, or import meth powder from Mexico and countries further south.
Inside Burma, the Wa enjoy a sort of diplomatic immunity.
The State Department's recent International Narcotics Control Strategy Report said, "Through cease-fire agreements, the government of Burma appears to have given the trafficking armies varying degrees of autonomy. For example, Burmese troops cannot even enter Wa territory without explicit permission."
Burma, often known as Myanmar, suffers under a military dictatorship that refuses to recognize a 1990 landslide election victory by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's party.
Much of the world opposes Burma's regime, which limps under sanctions enforced by the United States and other nations trying to establish democracy there.
Restrictions on US aid mean the DEA must also curb its activities in Burma.
Opposition to the DEA in Burma also comes from international pro-democracy groups who claim any money, weapons or equipment from Washington to Rangoon will be diverted to slaughter political opponents, and enable the regime to keep Burma under brutal repression.
Mr. Snipes said, "There are restrictions on our doing certain things with the Burmese authorities."
While the Wa contribute a large chunk of Burma's more than 1,000 tons of opium exports each year -- which is mostly concentrated into heroin -- the guerrillas now favor meth because it is easier to produce, and more profitable.
As a result, the Wa are also sending millions of speed pills each year across the mountainous jungle border into Thailand.
The State Department's most recent narcotics report, meanwhile, said Burmese government "seizures of 28.8 million amphetamine tablets in 1999 represented a notable increase over the previous year's record seizures of 15 million tablets."