This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 RANGOON 001355 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV AND INL/AAE 
DEA FOR OF, OFF 
BANGKOK FOR NAS 
USCINCPAC FOR FPA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SNAR KCRM BM
SUBJECT: BURMA'S COUNTERNARCOTICS REPORT CARD 
 
REF: A. (A) STATE 190339 
     ¶B. (B) STATE 157297 
     ¶C. (C) 01 RANGOON 1747 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: Burma has responded well to the criteria 
outlined in our certification demarche.  It has continued to 
enforce its counternarcotics laws, increased pressure on 
cease-fire groups such as the United Wa State Army, and 
sharply reduced the production of opium and heroin within its 
territories.  It has also improved its counternarcotics 
cooperation with China and other states, contributing to the 
arrest of several major drug traffickers wanted abroad. 
Seizures of opium, heroin, and other narcotics have also 
increased in 2002, though ATS seizures have lagged.  In 
addition, Burma enacted new money laundering legislation in 
2002 and should open up its first cases under the new law 
before the close of the year.  It also continued to prosecute 
corrupt police and military officers.  Between 1995 and May 
2002, a total of 248 police and military officers were 
disciplined for narcotics-related corruption and drug abuse. 
Finally, in cooperation with UNDCP and several international 
NGOs, Burma has maintained a simple, but apparently effective 
demand reduction program that has held drug abuse in Burma to 
one of the lowest levels in the region.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) The paragraphs below are keyed to the criteria 
outlined in our certification demarche. 
 
¶3. (U) Drug Dealers: Comply with the provisions of UN Drug 
Conventions by taking demonstrable and verifiable actions 
against high level drug traffickers and their organizations, 
such as arresting and convicting leading UWSA drug producers 
and traffickers 
 
The GOB has continued to enforce its counternarcotics laws. 
While its reach was limited in the past by the special 
dispensation it had given several major cease-fire groups on 
the Chinese border, nevertheless, over the past fourteen 
years, it has made almost 90,000 arrests on drug-related 
charges.  Of those arrested, 42 were eventually sentenced to 
death, 37 were given life imprisonment, and an additional 
12,500 were given prison terms of more than 10 years.  During 
the first eight months of 2002, Burma has arrested another 
4,148 suspects.  It has also continued with prosecutions.  In 
the five months up to May 2002, 850 drug dealers were given 
prison terms in excess of ten years. 
 
Several of these arrests and convictions were directly the 
result of cooperation with the United States, Australia, 
China, Thailand, and other states.  These included: 
 
-- Cooperation with the United States Drug Enforcement 
Administration and the Australian Federal Police in the 
seizure of 357 kilograms of heroin in Fiji in October 2000. 
Death sentences were eventually handed down in Yangon for two 
drug kingpins connected with this case. 
 
-- Cooperation with Thailand in the seizure of 116 kilograms 
of heroin and 7.8 million methamphetamine tablets in February 
¶2002.  Two of the principals behind this shipment were also 
eventually convicted in Yangon and sentenced to "indefinite" 
(i.e., unending) terms in prison. 
 
-- Cooperation with China in a series of arrests and seizures 
that have continued throughout 2001 and 2002 all along the 
Chinese border following the signature of a Chinese/Burmese 
MOU on counternarcotics operations in January 2001.  Since 
then, Burma has turned over 22 separate fugitives to China, 
including members of one group (Tan Xiao Lin and company) 
which China described as the "largest armed drug-trafficking 
gang in the Golden Triangle." 
 
-- Cooperation with the United States Drug Enforcement 
Administration and the Chinese police on a seizure of 12.5 
kilograms of heroin in Hong Kong on July 11, 2002. Evidence 
collected in that case will provide the basis for one of the 
first prosecutions in Burma under the GOB's new money 
laundering law. 
 
-- Cooperation with Thailand and the United States in the 
arrest of Yang Chia-ho, a United Wa State Army officer and a 
confederate of the notorious Wa chieftain, Wei Hsueh Kang. 
Yang Chia-ho was taken into custody together with more than 5 
million methamphetamine tablets and 41 kilos of heroin in 
Tachileik, Burma on October 4, 2002. 
 
Burma has also ratcheted up the pressure on cease-fire groups 
like the Wa and the Kokang Chinese, who were originally left 
relatively free to develop the narcotics trade in their 
self-administered areas along the Chinese border.  Starting 
in September 2001, the GOB has mounted a series of joint 
operations in cooperation with the Chinese which resulted in 
a series of major arrests in Laukkai, the capital of Kokang 
Chinese Special Region No. 1.  In March, 2002, it also 
demanded that new counternarcotics decrees be issued by the 
Wa, the Kokang Chinese, and other cease-fire groups.  Those 
decrees outlawed participation in any aspect of the narcotics 
trade.  The GOB also demanded and received cooperation from 
the United Wa State Army in bringing to heel several 
fugitives wanted by China in April and May 2002.  In 
addition, it has begun a campaign to close down the liaison 
offices of armed groups like the United Wa State Army, and of 
companies associated with those groups in Tachileik, 
Myawaddy, and other towns on the Thai/Burmese border. 
Finally, the GOB has continued to hold all of the cease-fire 
groups to their pledges to end opium production in their 
territories.  U Sai Lin's Special Region No. 4 around Mong La 
has been opium-free since 1997 and the Wa are, thus far, on 
track to eliminate opium by 2005.  The Kokang Chinese missed 
their opium-free target (scheduled for the year 2000), but 
have paid a heavy price for that failure in terms of 
increased attention from both the Burmese and the Chinese 
police. 
 
¶4. (U) Narcotics Elimination: Increase opium eradication and 
provide location data for verification purposes; 
significantly increase seizure rates for opium, heroin, and 
methamphetamines; control the diversion of precursor 
chemicals; and destroy significantly more heroin and 
methamphetamine laboratories. 
 
Opium production in Burma declined for the sixth straight 
year in 2002.  According to the U.S./Burma Joint Opium Yield 
Survey, the maximum potential yield for opium in Burma in 
2002 totaled only 630 metric tons, down 235 metric tons (or 
27 percent) from 2001.  Over the past six years (i.e., since 
1996), opium production in Burma has declined by more than 75 
percent, dropping from an estimated 2,560 metric tons in 1996 
to 2002's total of only 630 metric tons.  Approximately half 
of this decline reflects a decline in acreage under 
cultivation (which dropped by more than half to only 78,000 
hectares in 2002).  The remainder was due to lower yields 
(now only about 8 kilograms/hectare) throughout Burma. 
 
The results in regard to methamphetamine production are 
harder to measure.  While figures for the production of 
methamphetamine production in Burma are batted about (e.g., 
400 million, 600 million, or 800 million pills), the basis 
for these estimates is unclear.  As a result, it is difficult 
to judge on the basis of current information to what degree 
Burma is or is not making progress in controlling 
methamphetamine production. 
 
It is clear, however, that narcotics seizures in Burma have 
increased during 2002, at least in regard to opium and 
heroin, most of which is trafficked through China. During the 
first eight months of 2002, the GOB seized 1,563 kilograms of 
opium and 213 kilograms of heroin.  This compares with 
seizures of 1,629 kilograms of opium and 96 kilograms of 
heroin during all of 2001.  In contrast, seizures of 
methamphetamine tablets were lower during the first eight 
months of 2002, totaling only 3,605,615 pills.  This may 
reflect a complete disruption of the ATS trade out of Burma 
as a result of the tensions with Thailand, poor Burmese 
enforcement efforts or simply new methods and routes of 
trafficking that the Burmese have yet to uncover.  Whatever 
the reason, recent large seizures by Burmese forces in 
Tachileik (see above) have begun to make up the deficit. 
 
GOB eradication efforts have also continued.  Altogether, the 
GOB appears to have eradicated slightly less than 7,400 
hectares of opium poppy during the 2001/02 crop year, a total 
approximately equal to 10 percent of the acreage under opium 
cultivation.  It also provided the United States with 
information on the states, townships, and villages within 
which these eradication campaigns were conducted and has 
agreed to provide GPS coordinates for verification purposes 
during the coming crop year. 
 
¶5. (U) International Cooperation: Continue cooperation with 
China and Thailand and Expand Cooperation to other 
neighboring countries such as India. 
 
Burma has been able to recruit strong allies in its efforts 
to eliminate drugs.  Since 2001, Burma has signed MOUs with 
China (in January) and Thailand (in June).  The MOU with 
China laid down the ground rules for joint operations, which 
in turn led to a series of arrests of major traffickers 
during the spring and summer of 2001 (see above). 
 
Burma's MOU with Thailand committed both countries to closer 
police cooperation on the border.  This was firmed up during 
an August 2001 meeting of police chiefs from both sides of 
the border who agreed to share information and establish 
joint "narcotics suppression coordination stations" in the 
Chiang Rai/Tachileik, Mae Sot/Myawaddy, and Ranong/Kawthoung 
border areas.  During Secretary 1 Khin Nyunt's September 2001 
visit to Thailand, Thailand also offered a 20 million baht 
(about $440,000) alternative development project in Burma. In 
May 2002, tensions on the Thai/Burmese border disrupted this 
nascent cooperation, but, with the resolution of those 
problems, both governments have committed themselves to 
renewed cooperation. 
 
Burma also participated actively in multilateral meetings on 
narcotics control.  These included a regional ministerial 
meeting (organized in cooperation with UNDCP) on drug control 
in Rangoon in May, 2001, and a quadrilateral ministerial 
meeting involving Burma, Laos, China, and Thailand in August 
¶2001.  In November 2001, Burma agreed to contribute to the 
ACCORD plan of action, which serves as an umbrella for a 
variety of global programs aimed at strengthening the rule of 
law, promoting alternative development, and increasing civic 
awareness of the dangers of drugs.  It has also supported the 
1993 Memorandum of Understanding that was signed among the 
six regional states -- Burma, China, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, 
and Cambodia -- to control narcotics production and has 
participated in all meetings of that group.  Put simply, 
Burma is part of every major multilateral narcotics control 
program in the region. 
 
Finally, Burma has signed drug control cooperation agreements 
with virtually all states in the region.  These include 
agreements with Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, the Philippines, 
India, and the Russian Federation, in addition to China and 
Thailand. 
 
¶6. (U) Money Laundering: Enforce existing money laundering 
laws, including asset forfeiture provisions, and fully 
implement and enforce Burma's new money laundering 
legislation. 
 
The GOB enacted new and relatively powerful money laundering 
legislation in June 2002.  That legislation criminalizes 
money laundering in connection with virtually every kind of 
serious criminal activity and levies heavy responsibilities 
on banks in regard to reporting.  Penalties are also 
substantial.  The police, in cooperation with the Central 
Bank and the Attorney General's office, have developed rules 
and regulations to implement the law, which should be 
published shortly.  The government has also held training 
seminars on money laundering and financial investigations in 
Mandalay and other cities.  Investigations have started, and 
it is expected that the first prosecutions under the new law 
will take place before the close of 2002.  The GOB's goal now 
is to establish a record of enforcement over the coming year 
that will justify Burma's removal from the Financial Action 
Task Force's list of non-complying countries. 
 
The GOB is also drafting new Mutual Legal Assistance 
legislation which should be enacted in 2003.  Once enacted, 
that legislation will facilitate the negotiation of Mutual 
Legal Assistance Treaties and greater legal and judicial 
cooperation in pursuing money laundering and other cases. 
 
¶7. (U) Corruption: Prosecute drug-related corruption, 
especially corrupt government and military officials who 
facilitate drug trafficking and money laundering. 
 
In 2001, the GOB indicated that 32 Burmese police officers 
have been punished for narcotics related corruption since the 
beginning of 2000.  Punishments took the form of 
imprisonments, terminations, demotions, and forced 
retirements.  Jail sentences have been imposed on 17 
officers, including 1 police major and 2 police lieutenants. 
Four officers have been terminated, including 2 police 
lieutenants, and six officers were forced to retire, 
including 4 police lieutenants.  Over the same period of 
time, they said, 7 Burmese army soldiers, including 1 major 
and three other officers, were charged with narcotics-related 
corruption. 
 
In 2002, the GOB expanded this list of prosecutions to 
include over 200 police officials and 48 Burmese Army 
personnel who were punished for narcotics-related corruption 
or drug abuse between 1995 and May 2002.  Of the 200 police 
officers, 130 were imprisoned, 16 were dismissed from the 
service, 7 were forced to retire, and 47 were demoted. 
 
¶8. (U) Demand Reduction: Expand demand reduction, prevention 
and drug treatment programs to reduce drug use and control 
the spread of HIV/AIDS. 
 
If the level of drug use is the measure of success in demand 
reduction, then Burmese programs have been a success.  The 
overall level of drug abuse is low in Burma compared with 
neighboring countries.  According to the GOB, there are only 
about 70,000 "officially registered" drug abusers in Burma. 
While this is undoubtedly an underestimate, even UNDCP 
estimates that there may be no more than 300,000 people 
(still less than 1 percent of the population) who abuse drugs 
in Burma.  Most, particularly among the older generation, use 
opium, but use of heroin and synthetic drugs is rising, 
particularly in urban and mining areas. 
 
Burmese demand reduction programs are in part coercive and in 
part voluntary.  Addicts are required to register and can be 
prosecuted if they fail to register and accept treatment. 
Altogether, more 21,000 addicts were prosecuted for failing 
to register between 1994 and April 2002. 
 
Demand reduction programs and facilities are strictly 
limited, however.  There are six major drug treatment centers 
under the Ministry of Health, 49 other smaller detox centers, 
and 8 rehabilitation centers which, together, have reportedly 
provided treatment to about 55,000 addicts over the past 9 
years.  There are also a variety of narcotics awareness 
programs conducted through the public school system. 
According to UNDCP, approximately 1,200 high school teachers 
participated in seminars, training programs, and workshops 
connected with these programs in 2001.  In addition, the 
government has established demand reduction programs in 
cooperation with INGOs.  These include programs with CARE 
Myanmar, World Concern, and Population Services 
International, all of which focus on injecting drug use as a 
factor in the spread of HIV/AIDS. 
Martinez