MORE PICS - DRUG COURIERS ARRESTED: 1- PENANG ( Street value RM0.5 Million); 4 MALAYSIANS (1 Coma) - TAIWAN; Swallowed Pellets in Yangon, Myanmar

Illicit drug smuggling may be well paid but risky. To get RM20,000 for a free trip overseas look relatively simple. Just swallowed the pellets (heroin filled) and you would be quarantined at the destination to “shit” them out. But for some, when the pellets are not properly sealed or your stomach juice is too active, the pellets may open and if the leak is severe you can suffer an overdose.
And what happens if the flight was delay and you need to ease yourself in the toilet. It can be a messy business extracting those pellets yourself if you are under strict orders not to do. Life goes on; the choice is always yours just as in life and death.
Nothing venture nothing gained and learnt.

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Four M'sians Caught Smuggling Heroine Into Taiwan October 17, 2006 00:50 AM

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 17 (Bernama) -- Four Malaysians have been detained in Taiwan on Friday for smuggling 700 grams of heroin into the country by swallowing pellets of the drug. Taiwan police detained the two men and two women in their 20s at the Taipei International Airport but only reported their arrests on Monday, after the suspects discharged the heroin - 123 pellets in total.
However, one of the women fell into a coma after some pellets burst inside her stomach, news agency DPA Taiwan quoted a police official as saying. According to the news report, the suspects swallowed the heroin pellets at a Rangoon hotel and flew in to Taipei via Bangkok on Friday. However, during transit stop at the Bangkok International Airport, one of them fell sick, rousing suspicion of Thai police who subsequently handed them over to Taiwan police. Sunday, three were turned over for prosecution while the fourth remained in a coma, according to the report.
Meanwhile, Bukit Aman Narcotics CID Deputy Director SAC II Abdul Aziz Bulat said Malaysian police were looking at the possibility of the four's involvement in an international drug ring.
"On Friday at 7pm, we detained a Zambian national who flew in from Rangoon via KLIA, at the Bayan Lepas Airport. "Based on information from the AFP (Australian Federal Police) and Taiwan Interpol, we had reasons to believe that he was transporting narcotics," he told Bernama when contacted Monday night. Abdul Aziz said the 27-year-old was arrested on Saturday after discharging 37 pellets of heroin no. 4, weighing 120g in total. He said police were now probing possible links between the Zambian and the four Malaysians in Taiwan. On the fate of the four Malaysians, he said they were subjected to the decree of Taiwan law. "The issue of extradition hasn't come up yet. Since they are in Taipei, they would have to face the charges there. "If they are extradited, we would have to detain and question them under the Dangerous Drugs Act (Special Preventive Law) 1985," he said. However, the four could face the death penalty under Taiwanese law. Abdul Aziz said: "If that's the case, we won't intervene because they have committed an offence that fell under the jurisdiction of Taiwan authorities= = =.
Nation, STAR; Monday October 16, 2006

Zimbabwean arrested with 37 heroin-filled capsules
PENANG: A Zimbabwean man had 37 heroin-filled rubber capsules in his stomach when he was detained upon arriving at the airport here.

Deputy Comm Datuk Christopher Wan Soo Kee (just promoted to CID Director), briefing pressmen on the evidence caught on the Zambian

State police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Christopher Wan said on Monday that the man had just touched down at the airport when a narcotics team moved in about 7pm on Friday. He said the drugs had a street value of about RM530,000. Police also found US$1,000 (RM3,700) on the 27-year-old suspect.
“The suspect boarded a flight at 12.15am that day in Yangon, Myanmar, where he is believed to have swallowed the capsules containing 210gm of heroin,” DCP Wan told a press conference. “He was on transit at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport for a few hours before boarding a flight to Penang. “He was supposed to meet a contact but was arrested before he could do so. “Our investigations showed that the contact could be a local drug trafficking syndicate mastermind with international connections. “We hope to establish his identity by questioning the suspect.” DCP Wan said the suspect’s passport showed that he was in Kuala Lumpur on Sept 9 after leaving Johannesburg a day earlier. “We had to wait a day for him to ‘pass out’ the heroin-filled capsules. The drugs, which is 80% to 90% pure, could be processed into more than 2kg of normal grade heroin. “The suspect, who was paid a large amount to act as a courier, was lucky that none of the capsules burst or leaked.

ABOVE: The pellets swallowed by the Zambian was obtained back when he was asked to shit on a bucket; BELOW: Apart from pellets, US Dollars bills were recovered

He could have died of an overdose. “He had since been remanded for two weeks pending investigations into the case which has been classified as trafficking under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952,” he added. DCP Wan said on Jan 29, 2005, three couriers comprising two men and a woman were arrested at the airport with 270 capsules filled with 1.2kg of similar grade heroin as they were about to board a flight to Sydney. “Each of them were to be paid RM18,000 to act as drug couriers. They were supposed to swallow 90 capsules each but the woman could only take 75, and the remaining 15 were found in her handbag,” he added.

ABOVE & BELOW: CPO Penang showing the passort and part of the confiscated 1000 US dollars

Tuesday October 17, 2006
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Belly stuffed with heroin; from NST(very similar to STAR)

PENANG: A Zimbabwean had 37 heroin-filled rubber capsules in his stomach when he was detained upon arriving at the airport here. State police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Christopher Wan said the man had just touched down at the airport when a narcotics team moved in about 7pm on Friday. He said the drugs had a street value of about RM530,000. Police also found US$1,000 (RM3,700) on the 27-year-old which they seized.

HARD EVIDENCE: DCP Wan showing reporters in Penang yesterday the rubber capsules that the Zimbabwean had passed out 24 hours after he had swallowed them. “The suspect boarded a flight at 12.15am that day in Yangon, where he is believed to have swallowed the capsules containing 210gm of heroin in total,” DCP Wan told a press conference yesterday. “He was on transit at the KL International Airport for a few hours before boarding a flight to Penang.

“He was supposed to meet a contact here but was arrested before he could do so. “Our investigations showed that the contact could be a local drug trafficking yndicate mastermind with international connections. “We hope to establish his identity by questioning the suspect.”
DCP Wan said the suspect’s passport showed that he was in Kuala Lumpur on Sept 9 after leaving Johannesburg a day earlier.

“We had to wait a day for him to ‘pass out’ the heroin-filled capsules. The drugs, which is 80% to 90% pure, could be processed into more than 2kg of normal grade heroin.

“The suspect, who was paid a large amount to act as a courier, was lucky that none of the capsules burst or leaked. He could have died from an overdose. “He had since been remanded for two weeks pending investigations into the case which has been classified as trafficking under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952,” he added. DCP Wan said on Jan 29, 2005, three couriers comprising two men and a woman were arrested at the airport with 270 capsules filled with 1.2kg of similar grade heroin just before they boarded a flight to Sydney. “Each of them were to be paid RM18,000 to act as drug couriers. They were supposed to swallow 90 capsules each but the woman could only take 75, and the remaining 15 were in her handbag,” he added.
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extract from

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL STRATEGY REPORT ;MARCH 1995

MALAYSIA
I. Summary

Heroin trafficking and a growing addict population continue to be serious problems in Malaysia. Malaysia remains a transit point for heroin No. 4 from Burma and Thailand to markets in the United States, Australia, and Europe. The Government of Malaysia (GOM) considers the narcotics problem a priority issue. Under the Prime Minister's directive, law enforcement agencies are examining ways to improve the counter narcotics program, which is already a well-funded and well-administered effort.

The USG and GOM continue strong antinarcotics cooperation. Several important steps forward in bilateral cooperation were made this year. The two governments renewed efforts to collect and analyze intelligence on international drug trafficking, and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Royal Malaysian Police (RMP) restored their cooperative relations. Negotiations for a new US-Malaysia extradition treaty are proceeding. Malaysia is a party to the 1988 UN Convention.

II. Status of Country

Illicit heroin processing, heroin trafficking, and growing addiction continue to be serious problems. No opium poppy is grown in Malaysia, however. Traffickers smuggle heroin base into Malaysia from Thailand and Burma and convert it to heroin No. 3 in local facilities. Most of this production is consumed locally via intravenous injection, and has no apparent impact on US addiction. Heroin no. 4 continues to transit Malaysia en route to the US and other western markets.

Despite severe legal penalties for both drug use and trafficking, drug trafficking remains a major problem. Illicit narcotics generally continue to be available at stable prices for the local addict population.

There is no evidence that Malaysia is a significant center for money laundering now, but the GOM is concerned that the offshore financial center Labuan may be vulnerable to money laundering activities and is looking for ways to head off this threat.

III. Country Actions Against Drugs in 1994

Policy Initiatives. In response to a worsening narcotics situation, the Prime Minister, who takes personal interest in counter narcotics developments, ordered the GOM's Anti-Narcotics Committee to devise a new plan to battle narcotics use/trafficking. Although the plan is still being drafted, the GOM took several interim initiatives during 1994.

The law enforcement agencies enhanced their efforts to reduce the addict population. Several large scale police operations resulted in hundreds of addicts being taken off the streets to be placed in rehabilitation centers. To complement the all out effort to reduce the number of addicts, the GOM is in the process of building additional rehabilitation centers. The GOM is also emphasizing an active role for various NGOs working on narcotics issues. NGOs specializing in demand reduction are receiving particularly strong GOM support. As a part of its new plan, the GOM is also focusing on improving international cooperation and coordination. The GOM's work on negotiations for a new extradition treaty with the US and enhanced intelligence gathering are key components of this initiative to improve international cooperation.

Accomplishments. Highlighting a growing awareness of the money laundering problem, the GOM in cooperation with an international body hosted a money laundering seminar in Kuala Lumpur. The GOM acknowledged weaknesses in its asset seizure regime and vowed to strengthen it. The GOM edged closer to a new extradition treaty with the US, which is expected to improve law enforcement cooperation.

The 1988 UN Convention has been ratified and has entered into force, but the GOM has not yet completely met all the objectives of the Convention. Malaysia has continued to work on achieving Convention goals, specifically in the areas of: production, distribution, transportation, and sale of narcotics, as well as considering new legislation to combat money laundering.

Law Enforcement. Malaysia's drug laws prescribe severe penalties and mandate the death sentence for narcotics trafficking. Possession of relatively small quantities of narcotics drugs creates a legal presumption of intent to traffic. Over 150 traffickers have been executed in recent years under the provision of the Dangerous Drugs Act and over 200 convicted traffickers currently await execution.

The GOM's chief law enforcement body, the Royal Malaysian Police (RMP), continues to emphasize counternarcotics activities. The RMP's battle against traffickers is hampered by a lack of an effective conspiracy law and a limited asset seizure law.

From January to September 1994, the RMP arrested 610 suspected traffickers under the Dangerous Drugs Act. The RMP continued to use the special preventive measures section of the Dangerous Drugs Act, which permits detention without trial of suspected traffickers. Almost 4,000 suspected drug traffickers are currently under detention. During the first nine months of the year, 1,479 were arrested for drug possession and 5,726 were arrested for miscellaneous drug offenses. The Dangerous Drugs Act mandates the death penalty for drug trafficking.

An all out effort by the RMP during the last quarter of 1994 yielded positive results. Hundreds of addicts were rounded up and sent to rehabilitation centers. RMP also concluded several investigations which resulted in arrests of several significant trafficking suspects and seizure of narcotics.

Lack of proper coordination among agencies involved in the narcotics battle has been a problem in the past. Under the Prime Minister's directive, the new counter narcotics plan currently being devised examines structure, centralization, and responsibilities of law enforcement agencies.

Drug Flow/transit. Heroin smuggling into Malaysia is believed to be centered in northwest Malaysia, chiefly on the islands of Penang and Langkawi, and across the land border with Thailand. Increased controls along this land border have resulted in more smuggling by sea. There is speculation that narcotics are being shipped directly to Malaysia from Burma, but evidence is scarce. The GOM continues to actively cooperate with Thailand and Singapore on drug transit cases.

Demand Reduction. Community rehabilitation centers continue to provide effective treatment, and efforts are being made to develop therapeutic programs in prisons and NGO facilities. As Malaysia's addict population increases, the GOM has plans to build more rehabilitation centers. Approximately 60 percent of the GOM's annual antinarcotics budget is allocated to enforcement, education, and prevention programs.

Bilateral Narcotics Agreement. The US and Malaysia signed a memorandum of understanding in 1989 on bilateral narcotics cooperation. Malaysia has generally met the goals and objectives of this MOU.
Corruption. Corruption continued to be a concern among law enforcement agencies. During 1994, there were no notable cases of corruption involving narcotics, however. Penang, where Chinese triad gangs control most narcotics trafficking, is still considered to be vulnerable to corruption. Chinese triad gangs are believed to be involved in attempts to engage law enforcement officials in various forms of corruption.

RMP continued to take precautions against potential corruption by a careful selection of officers for its anti-narcotics unit and frequent transfers within the unit. Although some law enforcement officials have been charged with corruption in the past, there has been no evidence of corruption among senior officials.

Agreements and treaties. An original signatory of the 1988 UN Convention, Malaysia ratified the pact in May 1993; the Convention entered into force for Malaysia in September 1993. The GOM continues to work on bringing domestic legislation in line with the Convention.

Malaysia is also a party to the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, the 1972 Protocol to the Convention and the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances.
Malaysian and US officials continue to negotiate a new extradition treaty. Discussions have progressed well. A modern extradition treaty will improve the two countries' counternarcotics cooperation. US-Malaysia counternarcotics cooperation operates effectively under the 1989 Memorandum of Understanding between the United States and Malaysia. Subsequent to the 1989 MOU, the two governments have signed letters of agreement concerning specific areas of cooperation.

Cultivation/production. Small quantities of marijuana are cultivated in Malaysia. Information on total yields is not available, but government officials and private experts believe yields to be small.

IV. US Policy Initiatives and Programs

Policy Objectives. US anti-narcotics cooperation with the GOM seeks to: (1) improve GOM capabilities and success in detection and interdiction of heroin and opium from the Golden Triangle transiting Malaysia to North America; (2) increase GOM narcotics law enforcement efficiency through cooperative efforts and appropriate grants for law enforcement training; (3) enhance GOM ability to gather and analyze intelligence; (4) assist the GOM to identify and eliminate narcotics money laundering operations in Malaysia; and (5) enhance cooperation with the GOM in domestic drug prevention and rehabilitation efforts.

Bilateral Cooperation. Training played a key role in cooperation between Malaysia and the US in 1994. The State Department's International Narcotics Matters Bureau coordinated and funded key demand reduction and law enforcement training for Malaysia. Other USG agencies including the Drug Enforcement Administration, US Coast Guard, and US Customs also actively participated. Customs an Overseas Enforcement Training Program to the Anti-smuggling Border Unit, as well as a Contraband Enforcement Team training program to Malaysian Customs. Malaysian and US officials renewed efforts to collect and analyze intelligence on international trafficking. The cooperative efforts are expected to greatly improve the law enforcement agencies' ability to battle drug traffickers.

The Road Ahead. The USG will build on 1994's important steps forward in bilateral cooperation to improve Malaysia's battle against narcotics use/trafficking. Restoration of DEA-RMP relations is expected to enhance RMP's ability to fight international traffickers. Renewal of the two governments' efforts to collect and analyze intelligence will also be a positive factor. Conclusion and entry into force of a new extradition treaty will make US-Malaysian coordination smoother. The USG will continue to provide important training in enforcement as well as demand reduction areas.
The battle against narcotics use/trafficking will remain a top GOM priority as long as the narcotics situation persists in Malaysia. The GOM will continue to devote considerable resources to try to stem the growth of its addict population.

In the coming year, the USG will assist the GOM address the following key areas of weakness in the GOM's fight against drugs:
-- encourage the GOM to adopt a conspiracy law
-- encourage the GOM to adopt a more effective money laundering regime; and
-- insofar as feasible, provide much-needed training for law enforcement agencies.

[CHART: MALAYSIA STATISTICAL TABLES]

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TAIWAN

I. Summary

Taiwan is being used by international narcotics traffickers as a transshipment point and is playing a larger role in money laundering. Taiwan has a significant heroin abuse problem. The Taiwan authorities have mounted a concerted effort to attack the heroin trafficking problem and seizures of heroin have increased rapidly in the past few years, peaking in 1993 with seizures totalling over one metric ton. Seizures fell slightly in 1994. It is believed that the reduction in seizures was due in part to the success of the drug enforcement campaign of the Taiwan authorities. Law enforcement authorities in Taiwan are beginning to work more closely with the international community in joint efforts to investigate and prosecute narcotics traffickers.

II. Status

Taiwan is not a producer of heroin. However, it is a consumer of heroin and methamphetamines, both of which are problems in Taiwan society. As a result of aggressive police activities against Taiwan amphetamine labs, indications are that drug labs in mainland China, financed by traffickers from Taiwan and Hong Kong, are taking the place of Taiwan-based labs.
Heroin, while not produced in Taiwan, is transshipped to and through Taiwan. Numerous smugglers have been arrested while attempting to smuggle drugs into Taiwan concealed in a variety of products and material. A few seizures of heroin shipments in the US and Canada have been traced to Taiwan as a transit point.
III. Action Against Drugs in 1994
Policy Initiatives. The Taiwan authorities have undertaken a high profile anti-drug stance which has included: a declaration of war against drugs; harsher jail terms for drug traffickers; island-wide anti-drug programs; and the introduction of legislation in conformity with the 1988 UN Convention in the areas of money laundering, precursor chemical controls and "illegal drug" schedules.

Accomplishments. In the Ministry of Justice's Investigation Bureau (MJIB) formed a new drug center to coordinate better its drug efforts. The National Police Administration's (NPA) Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) continued to cooperate well with DEA. The number of methamphetamine labs located on Taiwan was reduced and the Ministry of Justice reports a decline in drug prosecutions, which it attributes to a decline in drug-trafficking. A series of new anti-drug legislative measures was introduced. Discussions are underway to explore the possibility of a bilateral counternarcotics agreement between the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) and its Taiwan counterpart (see Agreements and Treaties, below).
Law Enforcement Efforts/Corruption. Both the MJIB and NPA enforce and investigate illegal drug activities in Taiwan. Taiwan's Ministry of Justice has been in the forefront of drug enforcement activities, recommending new legal and law enforcement measures designed to punish severely traffickers and provide medical help for drug users. There were no reported incidents of public corruption involving drugs. There is no evidence of senior Taiwan officials being involved with the illegal drug trade in Taiwan. Taiwan policy and practices do not support illicit production or distribution of drugs.Agreements and Treaties. Taiwan does not have any formal bilateral counternarcotics agreements and, as a non-member of the United Nations, has not been included in any

UN-sponsored counternarcotics efforts. The US does not have diplomatic relations with Taiwan. US interests are represented through the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT). In 1993 AIT and its Taiwan counterpart, the Coordination Council for North American Affairs (CCNAA), signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that allowed for the testimony of US officials and official of the Taiwan authorities in one another's courts. Since Taiwan is not a member of the UN, its status has precluded ratification of the 1988 UN Convention. The Taiwan authorities, nevertheless, have taken unilateral action to adopt legislation in conformity with the goals and objectives of the Convention.

Cultivation/Production. There is no known cultivation of poppy or cannabis in Taiwan. Six methamphetamine labs were raided by Taiwan law enforcement authorities in 1994. Efforts by local law enforcement appear to be causing some illicit methamphetamine production to move to underground labs in mainland China financed in part by Taiwan traffickers.

Drug flow/Transit. Heroin flow into Taiwan appears to be predominantly by ship. The heroin is concealed in shipments of various products, including labelled canned goods, machinery or lumber brought into Taiwan. A portion of the heroin seized is for domestic use, but the amounts seized suggest much is also transshipped to other destinations. There were several instances in 1994 of heroin being smuggled by airline passengers. Smuggled amphetamines usually enter the island via fishing boats. Many of these fishing boats carry drugs originating in mainland China.

The transit of drugs through Taiwan is principally confined to heroin, although US information indicates that amphetamines are also sent to Japan and the Philippines either from or via Taiwan. The transshipment of heroin through Taiwan appears to be primarily by container shipment and is difficult to detect due to the large number of containers passing through Taiwan. MJIB estimates that Taiwan customs personnel have the capability of inspecting a maximum of 13 percent of the containers that pass through Taiwan destined for other countries.

Domestic Programs (Demand Reduction). The Taiwan authorities estimate there are 30-40,000 heroin addicts in Taiwan. Based upon the amount of heroin seized and Taiwan authorities' statements that heroin seized in Taiwan is for domestic consumption, this figure would appear to be low. In fact, the authorities have stated that the true number may be much higher. Taiwan readily admits that amphetamine usage is a growing problem among students, farmers and laborers in Taiwan's fast-paced society. Taiwan has a "say no" program in which public service radio, television, posters and public events are used to describe the pitfalls of drug usage. These messages are widely spread throughout Taiwan society. The Taiwan authorities have placed a great deal of emphasis on drug education and rehabilitation of first time offenders.

IV. US Policy Initiatives and Programs

Bilateral Cooperation. Efforts will continue to increase further Taiwan's cooperation in counternarcotics enforcement efforts. This can best be accomplished by: a) urging Taiwan to develop information/intelligence exchanges with concerned US law enforcement agencies (and like-minded authorities in other countries); b) encouraging the Taiwan authorities to enact draft legislation that would require the investigation of questionable financial practices that are a cloak for money laundering; and c) having Taiwan tighten requirements in its Nationality Act to prevent fugitives from using Taiwan as a safe haven from prosecution elsewhere.

Efforts will be made to support Taiwan participation in international organizations concerned with counternarcotics efforts accepting membership by non-states. Discussions are planned on the possibility of a bilateral counter narcotics agreement.

[CHART: TAIWAN STATISTICAL TABLES]

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BURMA
I. Summary
Burma remains the world's largest producer of illicit opium and heroin, and the Government of Burma continues to treat counternarcotics efforts as a matter of secondary importance. The USG estimated 1994 potential opium production at 2,030 metric tons from 146,600 hectares of illicit poppy cultivation. Opium production fell by 21 percent due principally to poor weather. There were some modest signs of greater government efforts in counternarcotics. One of the results of a Burmese Army campaign against the Shan United Army (SUA) of Khun Sa was to restrict the opium supply and drug trafficking routes of the SUA. The GOB has also begun to show signs of willingness to cooperate in counternarcotics efforts and has agreed to facilitate an opium yield survey in 1995. Domestic enforcement efforts have also show some marginal improvement with regional task forces under the Burmese police becoming more active in drug enforcement. These efforts however, fall far short of what is required to address seriously the drug problem in Burma.
The government's ability to suppress Burma's opium and heroin trade is severely limited by lack of access to and control over the areas in which most opium is grown and heroin processed. This is to some extent a situation the government itself has created. Well-equipped ethnic armies sheltered in remote mountainous regions have been permitted wide-ranging, local autonomy in exchange for halting their active insurgencies against Rangoon. At the same time opium poppy cultivation has soared in the base areas of the insurgent groups, especially in the Wa hills, despite nominal commitments by insurgents and the government alike that efforts would be made to reduce opium growing.
II. Status of Country
Since 1989, Burma has become the world's largest producer of opium and heroin. Drug trafficking armies protected in ethnic enclaves at the periphery of central government control are the main forces behind the massive expansion in the Burmese drug trade. These armies, comprised mainly of ethnic minorities, are controlled by ethnically Chinese or Sino-Burmese drug traffickers who use their forces to protect heroin refineries and drug caravans. Through the political control exercised by these large, standing drug armies, traffickers are able to oversee the production of most of Burma's 2,030 metric tons of opium gum. Essential chemicals used for the processing of this gum into heroin are obtained from China, Thailand and India.
III. Country Actions Against Drugs
Since the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) signed peace agreements with Burma's largest drug trafficking insurgent groups in 1989, it has espoused a policy that emphasizes economic development in the ethnic areas inhabited by these trafficking armies rather than attempting to take drug enforcement measures in these same areas. Reduction in opium cultivation was supposed to follow economic development.
Unfortunately neither development nor a reduction in opium cultivation has occurred. In areas under SLORC control, the government has expanded drug enforcement operations by the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC) narcotics task forces. Two new task forces were established in 1994, bringing the total number of such units to 17. There has been no aerial eradication in Burma since the end of a Department of State-funded effort, which ceased when the SLORC assumed power in 1988. The government claims it undertakes some minor manual eradication efforts.
Policy Initiatives. In September, the SLORC unveiled its eleven-year "Master Plan for the Development of Border Areas and National Races." This sets as a goal "to eradicate totally the cultivation of poppy plants by establishing economic enterprises." Economic development efforts in the so-called border areas largely remain in the planning stage and there have been no results as yet in the counter narcotics aspect of this initiative.
The government continues to rely on UNDCP and UNDP assistance for limited drug-related development aid in the Shan state. UNDCP, under the umbrella of its two sub regional strategies -- Thailand/Burma and China/Burma -- manages a number of pilot crop substitution projects in the eastern Shan state and Wa areas as well as demand reduction and law enforcement projects in a few towns close to the Thai and Chinese borders. New CCDAC task forces in Muse (on the Chinese border) and Tachilek (on the Thai border) established in early 1994 have received modest equipment assistance and training from UNDCP.
Accomplishments. During 1994, the Burmese government undertook some efforts to counter the narcotics threat. However, these have had no major impact on the thriving Burmese drug economy. The SLORC has yet to introduce meaningful eradication or drug enforcement measures in the ethnic Wa and Kokang strongholds of the Shan state where the bulk of Burma's drug trade is based. The government is primarily concerned with keeping border area insurgencies quiescent and does not take counternarcotics as a priority in these regions. Burma has modest anti-drug cooperation with neighboring countries. Late in 1994, Burma and Bangladesh formally signed a drug cooperation agreement calling for information sharing and coordination of enforcement activities along the two countries' mutual border. Building on previously established agreements or memoranda of understanding with China, Thailand, India and Laos, the Burmese government held periodic meetings with counternarcotics representatives from these countries in 1994.

By enacting the 1993 Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Law, the SLORC formally brought its legal code into compliance with the main provisions of the 1988 UN Convention. The 1993 law contains provisions for attacking drug-related money laundering, the confiscation of drug-related assets, the prosecution of conspiracy cases, the seizure of precursor chemicals and arrests of those trafficking in these chemicals, and the prosecution of major traffickers. Although the legal framework for compliance with the goals and objectives of the 1998 UN Convention exists, the government has not embarked on a program to implement these laws vigorously. Enforcement and legal authorities also lack the expertise and training required to make this legislation effective. The government is now starting to take steps to train appropriate officials in the effective use of the law. UNDCP and the Australian government have assisted in this regard, by funding a study tour for several senior Burmese drug enforcement and judicial officers to Singapore and Australia to study the implementation of related legal statutes in other countries. In part due to limited assistance and training from DEA and UNDP, Burmese police units are improving their limited capability to arrest traffickers and seize narcotics. For example, five traffickers who had been arrested in connection with a 21 kilogram heroin seizure by the Lashio Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC), were tried and sentenced on November 30 by the Lashio District Court to prison sentences ranging from 25 to 30 years.

Burmese eradication remains so limited it has no impact on the massive opium cultivation. Government reports claim slightly over 1,000 hectares of opium were eradicated manually in 1994, a slight increase over 1993, but still far below 1 percent of estimated total cultivation.
The Burmese government continued to advance cooperation with the UNDCP throughout 1994. In September it approved the implementation of the new UNDCP pilot project in the southern Wa region, which has since started. The government provides some support through in-kind contributions (services and personnel) to ongoing UNDCP crop substitution projects in the Mong Yang and Tachilek townships of the eastern Shan state. The Tachilek project, however, has been slowed and reduced in scope due to fighting in the region between the Burmese army and Khun Sa's forces.
Law Enforcement Efforts. In 1994 the Burmese Army (BA) stepped up its military effort against Khun Sa's Shan United Army (SUA). Narcotic control is not a principal objective of the BA's actions against insurgent groups, but the campaign against Khun Sa did have some adverse impact on the heroin trade in the Golden Triangle. In May and June large scale military operations were launched against SUA strongholds in the southern Shan state region near the Thai border. This fighting was ultimately successful in capturing several strategic areas previously under SUA control. Burmese authorities reported casualties of over 200 killed and more than 390 wounded. This military campaign forced the closure of many SUA heroin refineries, disrupted drug caravan movements, and cut off the SUA's southern Shan state headquarters from northern elements that traditionally supply much of the group's opium. In the course of the fighting several large acetic anhydride seizures were made by Burmese army personnel.

The bulk of Burma's drug enforcement effort in areas controlled by the government falls under the domain of the CCDAC, a coordinating and implementing agency comprised of representatives from the police, military, and several ministries with peripheral drug control interests. In 1994, the CCDAC established two additional drug enforcement task forces. The CCDAC's drug enforcement task forces, stationed in major urban areas and at strategic border and road crossings, together with other Burmese drug control entities seized 334 kilograms of heroin between January and October. Also, 2,136 kilograms of opium and 1,191 gallons of acetic anhydride were seized in the same 10 month period.
Corruption. Despite widespread rumors, there is no strong evidence that the Burmese government is directly involved in or directly profits from the drug trade. Most of the country's drug production and trafficking is under the control of insurgent armies. The government has no direct control over the activities of these armies, but it has both political and economic leverage with these groups. It has failed to use this leverage on these groups to reduce drug production and trafficking.
While direct government complicity in the drug trade does not appear to be a problem among senior officials, narcotics corruption is a problem among lower level officials. It is widely believed that lower level Burmese officials in the field, particularly in the Shan state, profit from drug trafficking for personal gains. This often takes the form of taking bribes for looking the other way.

Agreements and Treaties. Burma is a party to the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and in 1994 became a party to the 1988 UN Convention. However, the current government has expressed reservations on two of the Convention's articles -- extradition of Burma's nationals to third countries and the use of the International Court of Justice to resolve disputes relating to the Convention (articles 6 and 32, respectively). In 1993 the government enacted a new comprehensive narcotics law which brings Burma's legal framework formally into compliance with the Convention's requirements. The SLORC has continued to refuse to recognize the applicability of an existing US-Burmese extradition treaty, which dates from British colonial times and was accepted as valid by the post-independence government in 1948.

Cultivation/production. Burma remains the undisputed leader in world illicit opium output, providing over 50 percent of known global illicit production. Even with a 21 percent decline in net production this year, primarily due to poor weather conditions during the 1993/94 crop season, Burma remained the world's largest producer of illicit opiates. Area under opium cultivation was 146,600 hectares, a decline of 11.6 percent from the 1992/93 growing season (again as a result of poor weather). Net opium production yielded an estimated 2,030 metric tons in 1994, down from 2,575 tons in 1993. The vast bulk of this annual crop, grown in the September-February dry season, is found in the mountainous areas of the Shan plateau, which extends almost the entire length of the Shan state, from the Chinese border to the Thai border. Opium poppy fields average half a hectar in size. Poppy fields are found to a lesser extent in the Kachin, Chin and Kayah states and in the Saggaing Division.

Drug Flow/transit. Most of Burma's opium and heroin output leaves the Shan state through unmarked crossings of the porous Chinese and Thai borders. Drug trafficking ethnic groups like the Wa and Kokang control most of this territory along the rugged frontiers with China and northern Thailand. The Burmese government controls major towns at the principal entry points to China and Thailand, but has no presence along much of the border. Increasingly effective Chinese enforcement efforts, however, appear to have persuaded traffickers such as the Kokang and Wa, to send more of their processed heroin to international markets through Thailand, Laos and India rather than through southern China.

Central Burmese transportation arteries linking Lashio and Mandalay with Rangoon appear to be increasingly used by heroin traffickers seeking to export maritime shipments from Rangoon and nearby ports to Singapore, southern Thailand and Malaysia. Trafficking routes leading from northern Burma to the Indian and Bangladeshi borders are used to a lesser extent for moving heroin to western markets but serve as key channels to supply growing addict populations in Bangladesh and eastern India. They also are used for the large-scale import of Indian-produced acetic anhydride into Burma.
Domestic Programs (Demand Reduction). Burma's demand reduction efforts are overwhelmed by the growing dimensions of Burma's drug abuse and related AIDS problems. Though government statistics continue to show a relatively small number of registered opium and heroin addicts (those who check in to a government-run treatment facility), outside observers estimate the size of Burma's addict population at 200,000 to 300,000. Government resources devoted to countering this growing domestic problem remain woefully inadequate. The entire country has only six major drug treatment centers with a total of 220 beds, and additional outpatient facilities at 24 smaller centers. The Ministry of Health has the lead responsibility for Burma's drug treatment and rehabilitation efforts, though the Ministries of Education and Information contribute to the government's demand reduction program through preventive education efforts. Since 1974, government treatment centers have registered 14,893 heroin addicts, 34,453 opium addicts and 4,640 persons addicted to other substances. However, a trend noted throughout the 1980s has been the shift from opium to heroin abuse among Burmese drug addicts. According to Burmese government statistics, some 84 percent of new addicts registered in 1993 were addicted to heroin versus only 20 percent in 1983. A very high percentage of intravenous heroin users who have registered with government treatment programs are infected with HIV. In a recent UNDCP-funded survey, a nationwide average of 60 to 70 percent of all IV heroin users tested positive for HIV. In the major heroin using centers of Mandalay and Myitkyina, rates of 84 and 91 percent were noted, respectively. Though NGOs and UN agencies are attempting to help the Burmese government cope with the closely linked social and health crises of heroin abuse and HIV infection, resources remain inadequate.

USG Policy Initiatives and Programs.
Policy Initiatives. The USG suspended bilateral aid to Burma, including funding for major counternarcotics programs, in September 1988 following the Burmese military's violent suppression of Burma's pro-democracy movement. The Burmese government has not replaced previous US-funded drug enforcement programs with its own unilateral efforts. The USG continues to encourage the SLORC to undertake more aggressive drug enforcement and opium eradication measures on its own. The Burmese government has agreed to a second US-Burmese survey of opium growing areas in the Shan state to be conducted in February 1995. Results from the scientific survey will give both governments a more accurate understanding of the magnitude of Burma's opium crop.
Bilateral Cooperation. In view of the Burmese government's continuing human rights abuses and failure to institute political reform, the United States has continued to maintain only a restricted level of counternarcotics cooperation with Burma. Current USG cooperation with the SLORC is confined largely to a limited relationship between DEA agents stationed in Rangoon and their Burmese counterparts. Through this liaison relationship, DEA shares information with and provides training to the Burmese police. In early December, DEA trainers conducted a six-day course in basic drug enforcement techniques for Burmese law enforcement personnel. Also, DEA has helped police working under CCDAC auspices to develop and conclude successfully two drug trafficking investigations in 1994. These cases led to the arrest, prosecution, and conviction of several heroin traffickers.

The Road Ahead. The future of bilateral cooperation hinges largely on the SLORC's progress on human rights and democratization, as well as improvements in Burma's unilateral drug control efforts. For the time being steps can be taken, consistent with USG policy aims regarding Burma, to provide training and other limited assistance to improve enforcement effectiveness and demand reduction and rehabilitation programs.

[CHART: BURMA STATISTICAL TABLES]
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UNRELATED Story; China Doll Found Dead in Hotel Room in GENTING HIGHLANDS

Woman found dead in hotel;18 Oct 2006

BENTONG: A woman was found murdered in a hotel room in Genting Highlands on Monday — the second such incident involving women from China in the past month.

ABOVE: Entrance to First World Hotel in Genting Highland; BELOW: Police Forensic van arrived to gather evidence of the murder

The latest victim, a 22-year-old, was found face down between two beds in a room on the 18th floor of the First World Hotel on Monday night. She had bruises on her face and was believed to have been strangled. There were no signs of a forced entry into the room and her valuables including her handbag, mobile phone and travel documents were intact. Police are investigating the possibility that the victim could have been involved in vice activities and they are now tracking the man who was last seen going into the room with her. Police have so far detained one suspect, a 52-year-old man from Negri Sembilan, under whose name the room was registered. They believe that he could have been her pimp. He was produced at the Bentong magistrate’s court yesterday where police obtained a 14-day remand order. It is learnt that the victim and two other women from China were taken to the resort on Monday morning by the suspect. Several hours later the other two women tried to contact the victim and when they could not reach her, they contacted the suspect.

ABOVE: The police took the body for a post mortem and BELOW: The evidence in envelopes being collected

The suspect checked the room about 11pm and found the woman. It is learnt that police have seized the tapes from several closed-circuit television cameras in the hotel to help in the investigations. They also recorded statements from the two women. Resorts World Bhd public relations and communications senior vice-president Datuk Anthony Yeo confirmed that the body was found by the man who had earlier booked the room.
On Sept 15, another Chinese woman, Hu Xin Yu, 27, was found murdered in the toilet of her room at the Hotel Classic Inn in Jalan Scott in Brickfields. Police arrested a 27-year-old man from Klang who was charged with her murder.

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