US embassy cable - 02RANGOON1415

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