Pubdate: Sun, 28 Feb 1999 Source: Associated Press Copyright: 1999 Associated Press Author: DON PATHAN Associated Press Writer MYANMAR GROUP PRODUCES MOST HEROIN LOI SAM SAO, Myanmar - Cradling an assault rifle, a teen-age rebel sits at a guard post watching trucks hauling consumer goods and construction material into northeastern Myanmar over the dusty road from Thailand. Across the border sits a Thai army command post that overlooks the hills of Southeast Asia's "Golden Triangle," the region where experts say nearly half the world's heroin is produced and then smuggled out to the streets of America and Europe. The young rebel is the first line of contact between outsiders and the United Wa State Army, one of the numerous ethnic groups not controlled by the central government of Myanmar, also known as Burma. "Welcome to the land of the Wa," Capt. Sadorn Sae-chang, the taciturn commander of the Wa army battalion in this area, tells a journalist allowed a rare, brief visit. A generation ago, the Wa were feared headhunters. Now, they are the world's largest producers of heroin and a major supplier of amphetamines in East Asia. But a cozy arrangement with the Myanmar military government that allowed their rise is fraying, and the Wa are preparing for war. Sadorn and the 1,000 Wa soldiers positioned along this part of the border are part of what the U.S. State Department calls "the world's biggest armed narcotics trafficking organization." Thai officers monitoring the border say the Wa are becoming the masters of the Golden Triangle, where the frontiers of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand converge. "They are definitely moving in that direction, establishing a sound network with outsiders," said Thai Maj. Gen. Chamlong Phothong. "The pressure is on us to do something about it." Thai officials and the State Department estimate about 1,900 tons of raw opium were cultivated in the Triangle last year, down from 2,300 tons the previous season, partly because of bad weather. About 10 kilograms of opium are needed to make a kilogram of heroin. "The Wa are responsible for nearly half of this amount," said Sorasit Sangprasert, deputy chief of Thailand's Office of the Narcotics Control Board. The Wa filled a vacuum left by Khun Sa, the warlord who once ran the largest narcotics outfit in Myanmar at the head of an army of ethnic Shan. Khun Sa surrendered to the government three years ago in exchange for amnesty and now lives in the capital, Yangon. Wa fighters were once the foot soldiers of the now-defunct Communist Party of Burma, whose insurgency sputtered out a decade ago. Soon after, they formed the United Wa State Army and worked out a cease-fire with the military government. For Myanmar's army, the truce neutralized a rebel group that had a weapons inventory large enough to last 10 years. For the Wa, it was a green light to expand heroin activities southward from their stronghold in Panghsang on the Chinese border, gaining additional smuggling routes across the Thai and Chinese borders. Along the way, they clashed with Khun Sa, hastening his surrender. But with Khun Sa out of the picture, the truce is losing appeal for the government, which would like to extend control over the troublesome border territory and the ethnic groups it has fought for decades. Tensions have risen over the past year, with the government demanding that the Wa head back toward their old strongholds near China. The Wa, unwilling to lose heroin gateways through Thailand, have ignored the order and begun beefing up their supplies. "We are not going to be like Khun Sa and surrender," said Sadorn, the Wa captain. "He is quite comfortable now, but his people are not." The Myanmar government insists it is working with the Wa to bring development to the area. Some Wa, however, suspect the roads being built in the hills will eventually bring Myanmar troops against them. The government may think twice about tangling with the Wa. The United Wa State Army is believed to be able to field 20,000 fighters. Myanmar's army approaches 500,000 men, but its troops are committed throughout Myanmar. Some corrupt Myanmar troops are also believed to profit from letting the drug traffickers do business. But the Wa could soon be squeezed on another side. Thailand, which has long relied on the ethnic militias as a buffer against Myanmar, is feeling pressure to curb the Wa. Westerners see heroin as the biggest threat emanating from the Golden Triangle, but for Thais and other Asians, it's something else cheaply produced amphetamines. Use is exploding, from 250,000 amphetamine users in Thailand in 1995 to between 500,000 and 1 million today. But as the fall of Khun Sa demonstrated, putting the Wa out of business might just open the way for another armed group. "We can't afford to destroy one drug network just to see the problem pop up," said Sorasit, the Thai anti-drug official. - --- MAP posted-by: Rich O'Grady