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.