[ 5 - 4 - 2002 ]

A Thai citizen seized together with 37.56 kilograms of heroin loaded on a Land Rover with Thai vehicle registration, number 3113, in front of the Dipa Kyaw Bazaar near the Friendship Bridge in Tachilek

A press conference with local and foreign journalists was held at Tatmadaw guest house on Inya Road here at 12 pm today. Present were Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs U Khin Maung Win, Deputy Minister for Home Affairs Brig-Gen Thura Myint  Maung, Deputy Minister for information Brig-Gen Aung Thein, Office of the Chief of Military Intelligence for Chief of Military Intelligence Col. Kyaw Thein, senior military officers of the ministry of Defence, departmental heads, news and information officials of the Ministry of Information and  correspondents and guests.
 

As explained by Col. Kyaw Thein at the briefing, The Government of the Union of Myanmar, which has designated the eradication of narcotic drugs as a National Task, has stepped up action against the trafficking of narcotic drugs especially along the common borders with neighbouring countries. As a result at about 5:30 PM on 1 April 2002 Border Security forces on duty inspected a maroon coloured Land Rover with Thai vehicle registration, number 3113 in front of the Dipa Kyaw Bazaar near the Friendship Bridge in Tachilek. The two Thai citizens on the vehicle resisted the inspection and chose to engage in physical assault. As a result one of the men escaped but the other was shot in the leg and captured together with the motor vehicle.
 

A detailed search of the Thai motor vehicle uncovered paper cartons made in Thailand to carry grapes, filled with packages of heroin. There were 89 packages heroin of the Two Lions and Globe brand, each weighing 350 grams, altogether weighing a total of 31.35 kilograms; 16 blocks of heroin of the Triple Nine brand with each block weighing 400 grams, and altogether totaling 6.41 kilograms. A total of 37.56 kilograms of heroin was thus seized.

Inquiries in conjunction with other supporting evidence revealed that the Thai citizen captured is Dang, son of Naing Hnone who is 27 years of age and residing at No. 43, Ward No. 4 of Chiengmai, Thailand. The one who escaped is another Thai citizen, Okkara Mong Kol, 38 years of age, with Thai national registration card no: 3519900124405, resident of No.  13/1, Ward No. 6, Lin Pin Quarter, of the town of Mu-an, Lan Mon District Thailand.

The Thai newspaper “Daily News” in its issue of 4-4-2002 carried a report of this incident in column 1 of its front page with the news headline “Thai-Myanmar makes joint seizure of heroin near border”. According to this report on 1 April, the No.1. Narcotic Drug Interdiction Police Force after contacting drug trafficking merchants had made secret plans to make this seizure. But when it was nearly time for the closing of the border bridge, the Thai Land Rover No. 3113 had not yet arrived back to Maisai. So the chairman of the Thai Border Committee contacted the member of the Myanmar Border Committee who was also head of the Border Supervision and Coordination Special Committee and after consultations with the latter, had requested him to block the escape of the perpetrators and to capture them. This account of the incident is far from accurate and is a fabricated report to suit their purposes. What actually took place was that while members of the Myanmar Border Security Forces were in the process of making a search of the Thai vehicle, Land Rover No. 3113, Sergeant Sadid of the Thai Border Committee and U Ko Lay of the Thai-Myanmar Border Committee together came to meet with the authorities of Tachilek and to report that information had been received that Land Rover registered as No. 3113 from Thailand was going to be transporting narcotic drugs from Tachilek to Maisai. The action taken was not the result of any co-ordination. The No.1 Thai Narcotic Drug Interdiction Police Force of the District of Chiengrai, Thailand had not given advance information to any authorized Myanmar organization. The said Thai Force had simply made its own plans and secretly entered Myanmar to organize a prearranged scenario. It was only when the vehicle failed to return to Maisai at the appointed time did they inform the Myanmar authorities concerned at the last moment when the border bridge between the two countries was about to be closed. By the time they contacted the Myanmar authorities concerned, the members of Myanmar Border Security Force had begun inspection of the suspected Thai vehicle. So the occurrence of these two separate events was therefore pure coincidence.

With regard to the above seizure, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Embassy of Myanmar in Thailand have been given the details of the incident in order that they may be able to relay the information to the proper authorities of Thailand. Furthermore, on 3-4-2002, the Central Committee on Drug Abuse Control of Myanmar also conveyed an account of the incident to the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) in Bangkok.  At the time of communication the ONCB’s response was that they had not given any such orders.

The captured Thai citizen Non Pet Khun Lon Kham on questioning stated that on 28-3-2002, they had illegally entered Myanmar via Pan Maing Hsun village on the Thai-Myanmar border and had transferred the narcotic drugs on to his vehicle in Tachilek. At present measures are being taken in cooperation for follow-up action against those involved from both countries.

For the two nations to cooperate effectively in the fight against narcotic drugs, it is of utmost necessity for the two sides to have mutual respect and to act in close co-ordination. However, in the incident recounted above incident neither the ONCB stationed in Bangkok, nor the ONCB (North) of Chiengrai, which is always in close contact with the Myanmar Narcotic Control organizations in Tachilek, had not contacted the Myanmar authorities to give advanced information nor made any attempt at coordination. In the border areas of neighbouring countries, when some measure or action is about to be taken, it is customary for the regional authorities of both countries to give advance information and to co-ordinate the implementation of any action that concerns both countries. If some action is to be taken to uncover clandestine narcotic drug activities to take action, it is necessary for the two sides to take joint action only after close co-ordination. In this present incident it appears as if the Thai side had made its own plan unilaterally and entered Myanmar secretly to implement it, and that the Myanmar authorities had been informed only at the last minute when their plans went wrong. Whatever the case maybe, what is unmistakably clear is that they had a secret plan of their own which they intended to implement without prior coordination.

The Myanmar authorities, citing what occurred in Tachilek, will certainly notify organizations in the neighbouring country to co-ordinate measures to be taken and exchange information in a spirit of mutual respect and understanding in the future.

Col. Kyaw Thein and Police Col. Kham Aaung replied to the queries raised by local and foreign journalists. The press conference ended at 1.05 pm.

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