US embassy cable - 05RANGOON11

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RANGOON 000011 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP, INL, INR/B; DEA FOR OF, OFF; 
USPACOM FOR FPA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/02/2015 
TAGS: SNAR, KCRM, PINR, EFIN, BM 
SUBJECT: BURMA: TALKING DRUGS WITH THE NEW HOME MINISTER 
 
REF: A. 04 SECSTATE 246838 
     B. 04 RANGOON 1647 
     C. 04 RANGOON 1437 
     D. 04 RANGOON 631 AND PREVIOUS (NOTAL) 
 
Classified By: COM Carmen Martinez for Reasons 1.4 (B,D) 
 
1. (C) Summary:  The new Home Affairs Minister, Maj Gen Maung 
Oo, Burma's top counterdrug official, took our recent drug 
certification demarche in stride, blaming ousted Prime 
Minister Khin Nyunt for not sharing counterdrug intelligence. 
 He said the GOB now must "start from zero" in combating 
money laundering and other drug-related crimes.  The Minister 
and his senior aides indicated that the SPDC has approved the 
2005 U.S.-Burma joint opium survey, but the designated lead 
agency, Military Affairs Security (MAS - the successor 
organization to the defunct Office of the Chief of Military 
Intelligence - OCMI), is unproven at delicate relations with 
the former insurgents who rule poppy growing territory.  The 
Minister, a former military commander in Rakhine State, 
struck us as confident and fairly well-informed.  End Summary. 
 
Certification Demarche Delivered 
 
2. (SBU) On December 29 COM and P/E chief met with the GOB's 
new Minister of Home Affairs, Major General Maung Oo, to 
deliver reftel demarche on the USG narcotics certification 
process.  The Minister was joined by Police Brig Gen Khin 
Yee, Director General of the Burmese Police Force, and other 
senior ministry and police officials.  We provided the 
Minister a non-paper based on Department's guidance for Burma 
(ref A) as well as the general certification information. 
(Note: in line with USG Burma policy that prohibits direct 
assistance to the GOB, we excised the language in the Burmese 
specific guidance (ref A) that read: "The USG will seek to be 
responsive to your government's requests for drug control 
assistance."  End note.) 
 
Get the Big Fish 
 
3. (U) The COM emphasized that the GOB had to take action 
against major drug traffickers, citing druglord Wei Hseuh 
Kang as an example, in order to demonstrate a serious 
commitment to counterdrug efforts.  The COM suggested that 
arrests of complicit senior officials and convictions under 
money laundering provisions of the law would be important 
steps.  She noted that the GOB has implicated former Prime 
Minister (and former military intelligence chief)  Khin Nyunt 
for corrupt activities in notorious drug trafficking areas, 
but observed that there have been no convictions of any 
senior officials since his October ouster. Minister Maung Oo 
claimed that the GOB was also looking for Wei Hseuh Kang and 
had no idea where he is located. "Please give us any 
information that you have on him," he added. 
 
 
Pointing Fingers at the Ousted Guy 
 
4. (SBU) Minister Maung Oo said that the Ministry of Home 
Affairs was handling an investigation of the ousted Prime 
Minister.  "We have not yet found anything regarding Khin 
Nyunt's involvement in narcotics," he said, "but please 
provide us with any evidence if you have it."  Contrary to 
SPDC declarations that there would be no policy changes 
following Khin Nyunt's ouster, Maung Oo said, "you will see 
an increased focus on combating corruption." Maung Oo went on 
to say "Whether you believe it or not this ministry received 
nothing from the former military intelligence on drug-related 
crimes...now we have to start from zero." 
 
5. (U) Police Colonel Sit Aye, head of the GOB's new 
Financial Investigation Unit (FIU), said that the FIU had 
received over 3,000 financial transaction reports and 20 
property transaction reports since the implementation of new 
money laundering regulations (ref D).  The FIU, he said, was 
investigating four of the transactions as suspicious, as well 
continuing an investigation of two Burmese banks named by the 
U.S. Treasury Department as probable money-laundering 
institutions. 
 
Green Light for 2005 Joint Opium Survey? 
6. (SBU) The COM outlined the importance of continuing the 
joint U.S.- Burma opium surveys and urged the minister's 
support in obtaining GOB approval for the next survey, 
tentatively scheduled for February 2005.  Minister Maung Oo's 
immediate response was that "all bilateral issues must now be 
coordinated through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs." 
However, when we noted that the joint opium survey involved 
considerable logistical coordination and pressed for an 
operational point of contact (a role previously played by 
OCMI), Police Brig Gen Khin Yee replied, "in fact, the 
authorities have already been briefed and they have approved 
the joint survey, including the use of (Burmese Army) 
helicopters."  He added that MAS (as the successor to OCMI), 
will coordinate the 2005 survey and urged contact with the 
new chief, Rangoon Division Commander Maj Gen Myint Swe. 
Minister Maung Oo nodded in agreement. 
Not Our Problem 
 
7. (SBU) We also raised the issue of the United Wa State 
Army's (UWSA) poppy-free deadline of June 2005 and inquired 
what the GOB planned to do if the Wa failed to meet the 
deadline.  Minister Maung Oo, who spent three years posted in 
the northern Shan State region, said "the deadline is a Wa 
resolution, not a GOB one, and if they don't keep their word, 
it's their problem."  He noted that the GOB's own poppy-free 
deadline is 2014, "and the GOB will do its best to comply, 
with or without international assistance...we will keep our 
word." 
 
Comment:  Notorious, but Connected 
 
8. (C) The apparent go ahead for the 2005 joint opium survey 
is a positive development, although it is uncertain if the 
new MAS apparatus is capable of the undertaking.  The survey 
is a political and logistical challenge, requiring delicate 
negotiations with former insurgent groups in Shan State. 
 
9. (C) This was our first encounter with Maj Gen Maung Oo, 
the former military commander of the Western Command in 
Rakhine State who replaced Khin Nyunt confidant Col Tin 
Hlaing as Home Affairs Minister in early November (ref C). 
Maung Oo, who enjoyed a reputation for brutality when he was 
in his former post, struck us as confident and fairly 
well-informed.  While his appointment has been perceived as a 
turn for the worse by UN agencies and NGOs, he demonstrated 
the ability to speak authoritatively on relevant issues (ref 
B), a welcome departure from many cabinet ministers who demur 
or defer to senior SPDC "decision makers" when discussing the 
most mundane of topics and decisions.  End Comment. 
MARTINEZ