BURMA COUNTERNARCOTICS PROGRAM: RESULTS, RESULTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 RANGOON 001415

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV AND INL/AAE
TREASURY FOR OASIA
DEA FOR OF, OFF
USCINCPAC FOR FPA
JUSTICE FOR MARY LEE WARREN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/03/2012
TAGS: SNAR KCRM BM
SUBJECT: BURMA COUNTERNARCOTICS PROGRAM: RESULTS, RESULTS
AND MORE RESULTS

REF: A. (A) STATE 157297

B. (B) RANGOON 1355

C. (C) STATE 196745

D. (D) RANGOON 1351

E. (E) STATE 204763

F. (F) STATE 215837

Classified By: COM Carmen Martinez. Reason: 1.5 (d).


1. (U) Summary: The GOB has provided a response to our
request for additional information on Burma's performance in
regard to the criteria set by the U.S. government for
certification of its counternarcotics efforts in 2002.
Included in the package are:

-- statistics on all seizures of narcotic drugs and precursor
chemicals in 2001 and 2002;

-- a status report on all cases prosecuted under Burma's
counternarcotics laws in 2001 and 2002;

-- GPS coordinates for all Burmese eradication programs in
2001 and 2002;

-- GPS coordinates and case details on all heroin refineries
destroyed in 2001 and 2002;

-- A listing of all major seizures of narcotics and precursor
chemicals in 2001 and 2002 with names, dates, and map
references;

-- Details on the repeated on-site visits made by U.S. and
UNDCP representatives to opium producing regions in Burma in
connection with the annual opium surveys done by both the
United States and UNDCP; and

-- Details on the seizure and destruction of opium poppy
seeds in 2001 and 2002.


2. (U) The entire package testifies to a strong effort that
was also documented in our first report (ref B) on Burma's
counternarcotics efforts. Burma has reduced opium production
to less than one-quarter of its level in 1996; it has
cooperated effectively with the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration and the Australian Federal Police; it has
established productive cooperative arrangements with China,
Thailand, and other regional states; it has participated
effectively in multilateral arrangements organized by UNDCP
to curb trafficking in the region; it has enacted powerful
new money laundering legislation under which the first
prosecutions are already being prepared; and, working in
particular with China, it has curbed the activities of drug
gangs operating in cease-fire areas governed by the United Wa
State Army, the Kokang Chinese, and others. Even the
reported decline in seizures of precursor chemicals and
methamphetamine tablets in 2002 is probably testimony to the
impact of Chinese/Burmese pressure on drug producing gangs
that are either being forced out of Burma or shut down
altogether. Provided public order holds together here, we
also believe Burma could be one of the world's few outright
success stories in regards to narcotics control over the next
half decade. End Summary.


3. (U) We have faxed copies of the GOB's latest report to
INL/AAE Director Bill Bach and EAP/BCLTV Desk Officer Josh
Glazeroff. INL/AAE Southeast Asia desk officer John
Underriner also carried a copy of these materials back to
Washington. The following is the essence of the report:


4. (U) Objective 1 - Drug Traffickers

The GOB has brought more than 4,000 separate cases against
narcotics traffickers over the past two years; 2,592 of these
cases were prosecuted in 2001; 1,475 during the first seven
months of 2002. Of all these cases, 172 were dismissed for
lack of sufficient evidence and 259 defendants were
acquitted. The remainder (a total of 3,853 over the full
nineteen months) were convicted. Six were given the death
penalty; 137 were given "unlimited" sentences; 10 were given
life sentences; 1,927 were given sentences in excess of 10
years, and the remainder were given sentences of less than 10
years.


5. (U) Objective 2 - Eradication, narcotics seizures, and the
destruction of meth labs and heroin refineries.
Eradication: The GOB eradicated more than 50,000 acres of
opium poppy over the past two crop years. Of this, 26,113
acres were destroyed during the 2000/01 crop year; 25,862
hectares during 2001/02. It has also provided GPS
coordinates for verification purposes for 44 sites where
major eradication efforts took place in 2000/01 and/or
2001/02. In addition, the GOB burned 164,000 kilos of poppy
seeds capable of seeding more than 40,000 hectares during the
six month period between April and October 2002. According
to Brigadier General Kyaw Thein, the head of MI's
counternarcotics division, the destruction of those seeds,
together with continued pressure on the Kokang Chinese and
other cease-fire groups, should reduce the acreage under
opium cultivation by about half in 2003.

Monitoring and Verification Visits: USG and/or UNDCP
personnel visited every major poppy growing district in
Burma, including every township in Wa controlled areas, as
part of our opium survey programs in 2002. Details on the
complete coverage afforded by the two surveys are available
in UNDCP's Report on its 2002 Opium Survey and the USG's
report on Joint US/Burma Opium Yield Survey. The complete
coverage of the UNDCP survey, in particular, accounts for the
virtually complete agreement between the two surveys on the
current extent of opium cultivation and its steep decline
over the past five years. Similar programs are planned for

2003.

Seizures: Through October 2002, the GOB has seized 1,631
kilos of opium, 285 kilos of heroin, 8,832,000
methamphetamine tablets, and 226 kilos of cannabis. For all
of 2001, the numbers were 1,629 kilos of opium, 97 kilos of
heroin, 32,439,000 methamphetamine tablets, and 284 kilos of
cannabis.

Refineries: The GOB destroyed fourteen heroin labs in 2001
and 7 thus far in 2002. For verification purposes, it has
provided GPS coordinates on all of these sites. It has also
provided details on 6 meth labs that were destroyed during
the first nine months of 2002.

Precursor Chemicals: In 2002, the Ministry of Health issued
notification No. 1/2002 identifying 25 substances as
precursor chemicals and prohibiting their import, sale, or
use in Burma. Seizures of precursor chemicals during the
first nine months of 2002 included 1,220 kilos of ephedrine,
2,908 kilos of acetic anhydride, and 21,552 kilos of other
chemicals. In 2001, the totals were 3,922 kilos of
ephedrine, 12,318 liters of acetic anhydride, and 174,191
liters of other chemicals.


6. (U) Objective 3 - International Cooperation

Bilateral Cooperation: Burma's counternarcotics cooperation
with China has expanded dramatically in 2002. Details are in
ref B. In the latest development, on October 15, Burma
arrested and turned over Li Kyin Kam to Chinese police
authorities. Li Kyin Kam was reportedly a major trafficker
and fugitive from Chinese justice. Burma has also resumed
its cooperation with Thailand, which has continued its
planning for a $400,000 alternative development program
opposite the Thai border in the vicinity of Tachileik.
Details of Burmese/Thai law enforcement cooperation will be
worked out at the upcoming HONLEA meeting in Bangkok.
Mekong Survey: Planning for the survey has resumed following
a resolution of the border tensions between Thailand and
Burma. Burma has designated a group of 3 officials from the
Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control to coordinate with
Chinese, Thai, and Lao officials on the survey.
Ministerial Level Meeting: Ministerial level drug control
meetings between Thailand, Laos, and Burma have been held
every two years since 1992. Burma will host the next.

Cease-fire Group Liaison Offices: All liaison offices for
"national races," including all the liaison offices of the
United Wa State Army and other cease-fire groups, in
Tachileik, Myawaddy, and Kawthoung have been closed.


7. (U) Objective 4 - Money Laundering

The new money laundering law was passed in June; a Central
Control Board chaired by the Home Minister was established in
July; training for financial investigators was conducted
Rangoon and Mandalay in August and September; the initial
investigations were begun in October; and the first cases are
expected to be submitted to the court under the new law
before the end of the year. Burma was left on the Financial
Action Task Force's list of non-complying countries in June
pending implementation of the new law. Burma will be
eligible for removal in June 2003.


8. (U) Objective 5 - Bribery and Corruption

Action has been taken against 12 police officers involved in
five cases of narcotics-related bribery and corruption in

2002. Four were given prison terms; one was discharged; four
were demoted; and three were given official warnings.


9. (U) Objective 6 - Demand Reduction

The Burmese government opened an additional 18 major drug
treatment centers and 22 drug treatment clinics throughout
Burma in 2002.

Final Note


10. (C) In a meeting November 1, we passed on to General Kyaw
Thein the additional information requests (ref F) that had
emerged from the October 29th meeting in Washington and
assured him again, as INL Assistant Secretary Rand Beers had
assured him in Washington, that "other political issues"
would not play a role in the U.S. government's decision on
certification of Burma's counternarcotics efforts. Kyaw
Thein pointed out that several of the new requests; e.g.,
regarding implementation of Burma's money laundering law, had
been answered by this latest package of materials, but
nevertheless promised to reply promptly with whatever
additional information was available on Burma's efforts in

2002.
Martinez