WAR ON DRUGS

Also, about 50 blacklisted major dealers in the North have escaped to Burma, said Pithaya Jinawat, head of the Northern Narcotics Control Office.

Mr Pithaya said only 15 of the 467 suspected dealers killed since Feb 1were gunned down by police in self-defence. The rest were believed to have been murdered by drug gangs trying to cover their trails.

There were 487 government officials among the blacklisted suspects. So far, 77 of them _ mostly based in Mae Hong Son _ had been arrested, he said.

Mr Pithaya added that a total of 77,385 drug users in the North had already reported to authorities.

Quoting reports of the Narcotics Control Board (NCB), he said there were 330 drug networks in the North and 280 smuggling routes in 10 northern provinces.

About 50 methamphetamine factories along the northern border belonged to drug kingpin Wei Hseuh-kang and the ethnic Red Wa in Burma.

Officials of the NCB and the United Nations Drug Control Programme recently visited the Red Wa's La and Pok towns, located opposite Chiang Rai. They found the majority of Wa townspeople were wealthy. Most of them owned four-wheel-drive vehicles and satellite phones, the officials reported.

U Sa Koo, a Wa military leader, admitted the Red Wa were still producing opium and speed pills. However, they had made a promise to Rangoon to help wipe out illicit drugs by 2005.

The NCB and UN officials also found Thailand's war on drugs had led to a decrease in the circulation of drug money.

Smugglers were also forced to reduce the size of their shipments and to figure out new ways to conceal their illegal goods, such as hiding pills in powder milk packets.

Also, there was a sharp rise in both wholesale and retail prices of speed pills. The wholesale price now stood between 30-50 baht per tablet, while the retail price had rocketed from 80-100 baht to 300-400 baht apiece.

source: Bangkok Post