US embassy cable - 02RANGOON1544

UNCLAS RANGOON 001544 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP AND INL 
TREASURY FOR OASIA 
NSC FOR BEERS 
USCINCPAC FOR FPA 
DEA FOR OF, OFF 
MANILA ALSO FOR USED/ADB 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SNAR, BM 
SUBJECT: MORE INFORMATION ON BURMA'S COUNTERNARCOTICS 
PROGRAM 
 
REF: A. RANGOON 1355 
     B. RANGOON 1415 
     C. RANGOON 1473 
 
1.  The GOB has recently released a bevy of information on 
its counternarcotics efforts, most of which we have reported 
in our previous cables (reftels).  However, in this cable we 
are providing some new information as follows: 
 
UN Protocol 
 
2.  The GOB has decided to accede to the 1972 Protocol to the 
UN's 1961 Single Convention on Narcotics Drugs.  Once signed, 
this will mean that Burma has become party to all of the UN's 
major narcotics conventions, including the 1961 Single 
Convention, the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic 
Substances, and the 1988 UN Drug Convention. 
 
Bilateral and Multilateral Agreements 
 
3.  Burma has signed bilateral narcotics control agreements 
with all of its near and some of its not so near neighbors. 
These include agreements with China, Thailand, India, 
Bangladesh, Vietnam, Laos, the Phillipines, and Russia.  It 
is also a partner in UNDCP's six nation ACCORD plan of action 
in Southeast Asia and a member, with China, Thailand, and 
Laos, in the Mekong Sub-regional Cooperative Program against 
drugs. 
 
New Destiny Project 
 
4.  During the spring of 2002, the GOB collected 
approximately 290 metric tons of poppy seed in exchange for 
winter food crop seeds and other support.  According to the 
government, this is enough to seed approximately 40,000 
hectares of opium poppy, and is the basis of its prediction 
that it will cut the area under opium cultivation in Burma 
from approximately 80,000 hectares to 40,000 hectares during 
the current crop year. 
 
Seizures and Arrests 
 
5.  The latest figures for arrests and seizures indicate that 
the GOB has arrested 3,730 suspects in 2,529 drug-related 
cases from January 1, 2002 through November 15.  During that 
same time period, it seized 1,737 kilograms of opium, 300 
kilograms of heroin, 262 kilograms of marijuana, 9,191,000 
stimulant tablets, and 1,711 kilograms of ephedrine.  Most of 
these numbers are in line with previous years, though the 
seizures of stimulant tablets are well below last year's 
total of more than 32 million. 
Martinez