Myanmar, Thailand cooperate in seizure of narcotic drugs 

Myanmar, Thailand cooperate

in seizure of narcotic drugs 

Yangon,

26 Oct – The Office of the Narcotics Control Board of Thailand informed the

Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control of Myanmar on 10-1-2001 that two Thai

boatswain and 22 Thai crew members were caught together with 116 kilos of heroin

and 7.798 million stimulant tablets aboard two fishing trawlers (Chocktawa-chai

4 & 5) near Phuket island of Thailand in Andaman Sea on 7 January 2001, and that

seizure of drugs led to the arrest of Mr Chairat Sae-Tan, Mr Prateep

Taveeapiradeeraj of Bangkok, Mr Chensum Sae-Sao of Chiangrai and Mr Suppachai

Krajaechand of Ranong. The Thai authorities gave information on involvement of a

Nyein Kyaw from Myanmar in that case and a phone number used by him.

The Myanmar authorities tracked down Nyein Kyaw by gathering

intelligence about him through the phone number, and it was known in October

2001 that Nyein Kyaw was staying at the Eastern Hotel on Bo Myat Tun Street in

Yangon. At 11 pm on 8-10-2001, Nyein Kyaw @ Si Yon Kyin, who was reportedly

implicated in the case of drug seizure in Andaman Sea, was arrested together

with 1,403 stimulant tablets at Room No 408 of the Eastern Hotel. According to

the confession of Nyein Kyaw, he carried narcotic drugs with his trawler

Shwengagyi and handed them over in Andaman Sea. Kyaw Hlaing & Lauk San @ Yaw

Phar Li cooperated with him, providing money for the trafficking of drugs. Kyaw

Hlaing & Lauk San & Yaw Phar Li was arrested in Kalaw at 1.30 am on 13-10-2001.

Also seized was Shwengagyi trawler which carried illegal drugs. In this case,

the authorities from Myanmar and Thailand exchanged information and cooperated

in disclosing and arresting culprits from Myanmar and Thailand. Similarly, as a

result of exchange of information and cooperation in drug control between

Myanmar and Chinese, Mr Tan Xiao Lin, a drug fugitive wanted by China, was

arrested at Muse in Myanmar on 20-4-2001 and handed over to the officials of the

National Narcotics Control Commission of China on 23-4-2001. Shan Chauk Mei, who

was implicated in the case of drug seizure in China, was also arrested in Muse

on 4-9-2001. As drug-traffickers are now operating transnational activities,

Myanmar is speeding up its cooperation with ASEAN member nations, the nations in

the Asia-Pacific region and the sub-region, UN agencies and NGOs, particularly

its neighbouring nations in fighting drugs.