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Viewing cable 08RANGOON501, BURMA: 2007 COUNTERNARCOTICS REPORT CARD

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
08RANGOON501 2008-06-20 09:33 2011-08-25 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Rangoon
VZCZCXRO4060
PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHGO #0501/01 1720933
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 200933Z JUN 08
FM AMEMBASSY RANGOON
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7806
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 1908
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA PRIORITY 1296
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA PRIORITY 4905
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 2031
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 4832
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL PRIORITY 8384
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 5946
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU PRIORITY 1499
RUEHCHI/AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI PRIORITY 1666
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 3839
RUEHUNV/USMISSION UNVIE VIENNA PRIORITY 0087
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 1780
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEABND/DEA HQS WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 RANGOON 000501 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR INL/PC, INL/AAE; INFO EAP/MLS; DEA FOR OF, OFF, 
TREASURY FOR FINCEN; JUSTICE FOR OIA, AFMLS, NDDS; USPACOM 
FOR FPA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SNAR KCRM BM
SUBJECT: BURMA: 2007 COUNTERNARCOTICS REPORT CARD 
 
REF: A. A) STATE 29120 
     B. B) 07 RANGOON 0555 
     C. C) 07 RANGOON 1109 
     D. D) 07 RANGOON 1130 
 
RANGOON 00000501  001.2 OF 007 
 
 
1.  (U) This message responds to ref A request for a report 
on the Government of Burma's cooperation on 
counter-narcotics efforts, based on benchmarks established 
in the prior year, in preparation for the FY 2008 
certification process. 
 
2.  (SBU) Begin Text of 2007 Certification Report Card: 
 
A. The USG requested that the GOB take demonstrable and 
verifiable actions against high-level drug traffickers and 
their organizations, such as investigating, arresting, and 
convicting leading drug producers and traffickers. 
 
Embassy Rangoon Assessment: Limited cooperation. 
 
The GOB has to date taken no direct action against the 
eight leaders of the notorious United Wa State Army (UWSA), 
indicted in January 2005 in a U.S. federal court, although 
authorities have taken action against other, lower-ranking 
members of the UWSA syndicate.  Two members of UWSA 
Chairman Bao Yu Xiang's family were sentenced to death and 
remain in detention after their arrest and conviction in 
connection with the September 2005 GOB seizure of a 
UWSA-related shipment of approximately 496 kgs of heroin 
bound for China via Thailand. 
 
The GOB has not succeeded in convincing the UWSA to stop 
its illicit drug production or trafficking, although 
Burmese anti-narcotic task forces maintained pressure 
against other drug producers and traffickers in 2007.   The 
GOB continued to cooperate with DEA and the Australian 
Federal Police (AFP) to monitor and disrupt the flow of 
illegal narcotics by the UWSA and associated international 
trafficking syndicates that have ties throughout Asia, the 
Pacific region, and North America. 
 
During 2007, the following significant enforcement activity 
was noted: 
 
During April 2007, the Tachilek CCDAC ANTF raided a house 
located in Taw Kaw Ah Twin Village, Hao Lek Village Track, 
Tachilek, Burma. A search led to the discovery of 10,000 
methamphetamine tablets and the arrest of two defendants. 
Information from the defendants resulted in the search of a 
second location, the seizure of 264,000 methamphetamine 
tablets, and the arrest of two defendants. 
 
--During April 2007, based upon information from DEA 
Rangoon and the AFP, CCDAC Muse ANTF officers raided four 
houses in the village of Pan Se, Nam Kham Township, Burma 
that were believed to be maintained by member of the Pan Se 
Militia, who are aligned with the Myanmar National Defense 
Alliance Army (MNDAA). The raid resulted in the seizure of 
224.3 kilograms of opium, 300 grams of heroin, an 
undisclosed amount of opium seeds, 7.1 million kyat 
($7,100.00 USD), and 50,000 Chinese Yuan ($6,250.00 USD) 
and the arrest of two defendants. 
 
--During June 2007, based upon informant information and 
information provided by DEA Rangoon, the Taunggyi CCDAC 
ANTF, assisted by the Burmese Army, searched several houses 
located in Loi Hsaung Village, His Hsai Township.  The 
search resulted in a total seizure of 189.2 kilograms of 
opium and the arrest of three defendants.  Information from 
the defendants resulted in the discovery and destruction of 
 
RANGOON 00000501  002.2 OF 007 
 
 
a heroin refinery and the seizure of 80 kgs of Ammonium 
Chloride. 
 
--During October 2007, the Lashio CCDAC ANTF seized 275 
kilograms of ephedrine at a vehicle checkpoint near Thein 
Ni, Burma.  It is suspected that this ephedrine was 
smuggled across the Indian border near Kalay/Tamu, 
transited Mandalay, and was en route to a methamphetamine 
laboratory in or near the Kokang region. 
 
--During November 2007, the Taunggyi ANTF raided two large 
heroin refineries southeast of Taunggyi.  The refineries 
were located in caves within the Pa-O National Organization 
(PNO) area of the Mae Nae Mountain Range at an altitude of 
over 6000 feet.   The raids resulted in the seizure of 
approximately 470 kgs of morphine base, over 60 kgs of raw 
opium, and 70 kgs of ephedrine. 
 
--During December 2007, the Tachilek CCDAC ANTF stopped and 
searched two suspects at a vehicle checkpoint on the 
outskirts of Tachilek, Burma.  The search and subsequent 
follow-on investigation resulted in the seizure of 2690 
tablets of Rabbit brand-logo Ecstasy, 1400 tablets of WY 
brand methamphetamine, and 2.5 kilograms of methamphetamine 
ICE.  The Tachilek CCDAC ANTF arrested six defendants. 
According to CCDAC, the ecstasy was manufactured in China 
and smuggled into Burma through Pang Hsang, Special Region 
Number Two (UWSA). 
 
In 2007, according to official statistics, the GOB arrested 
3635 suspects on drug related charges. Burma continued its 
cooperation with law enforcement agencies in neighboring 
countries in 2007, in several cases leading to the 
interdiction of cross-border drug transfers and the 
extradition of traffickers to and from Burma. 
 
B. The USG asked the GOB to continue good efforts on opium 
poppy eradication and provide location data to the U.S. for 
verification purposes; increase seizures of opium, heroin, 
and methamphetamine and destroy production facilities; 
adopt meaningful procedures to control the diversion of 
precursor chemicals. 
 
Embassy Rangoon Assessment: Limited cooperation. 
 
For the fourth consecutive year, the GOB failed to provide 
sufficient cooperation to support the U.S.-Burma joint 
opium yield survey, previously an annual exercise. 
 
There was a last minute effort during January/ February 
2008 to revive the US-Burma Opium Yield Survey by the GOB 
Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC). However, 
this effort was unsuccessful.  UNODC continues to conduct 
an annual survey. 
 
According to the UNODC opium yield survey, in 2007 the 
total land area under poppy cultivation in Burma was 27,700 
hectares, a 29 percent increase from the previous year. 
The UNODC estimated that the potential production of opium 
increased by 46 percent, from 315 metric tons in 2006 to 
460 metric tons in 2007.  The largest areas under 
cultivation were located in the Southern Shan State, where 
65 percent of cultivation in Burma occurred.  UNODC 
determined that 25 percent of cultivation in Burma occurred 
in the Eastern Shan State.  In the Northern Shan State, 
poppy cultivation was one percent of the total cultivation 
in Burma.  In the Kayah State, which was first surveyed in 
2006, UNODC noted that poppy cultivation is increasing. 
The same trend was observed in the Kachin State.  According 
to UNODC, the Kachin State accounted for 5 percent of the 
 
RANGOON 00000501  003.2 OF 007 
 
 
total poppy cultivation in Burma.  A UNODC survey of 
Special Region Number 2 (UWSA) revealed that there is no 
appreciable poppy cultivation.  The same was found in th 
e Special Region Number One (Kokang) and Special Region 
Number Four (ESSA). 
 
The increase in potential opium production in the 2007 
UNODC estimate reflects an increase in hectares under 
cultivation, improved agricultural methods, and an end to 
several years of drought.  These factors resulted in 
favorable growing conditions in the major opium poppy 
growing areas. 
 
GOB seizures of illicit drugs increased considerably in 
2006 and early 2007, due to closer cooperation with 
neighboring countries and stepped-up law enforcement 
investigations.  During CY 2007, the GOB seized 
approximately 1.6 million methamphetamine tablets, compared 
with 19 million methamphetamine tablets seized in calendar 
year (CY) 2006, equating to 1.9 metric tons. 
 
During CY 2007, the GOB seized approximately 5.2 metric 
tons of methamphetamine powder, approximately 398 kgs of 
methamphetamine "ICE," 1.2 metric tons of opium, 10.9 
metric tons of low quality opium, approximately 75 kgs of 
heroin, and 521 kgs of ephedrine. 
 
Burma does not have a domestic chemical industry, but its 
porous borders and endemic corruption facilitate the 
diversion and trafficking of precursor chemicals, primarily 
from China and India, to drug labs in country.  The GOB 
recognizes the threat, but has been unable to establish 
effective countermeasures to date.  The GOB's Precursor 
Chemical Control Board has identified twenty-five chemical 
substances (including caffeine and thionyl chloride) and 
prohibited their import, sale, or use. 
 
During CY 2007, the GOB seized approximately 3.6 metric 
tons of precursor chemical powder, 10736.14 liters of 
precursor chemicals, and approximately 102 kgs of caffeine. 
 
C. The USG urged the GOB to establish a mechanism for the 
reliable measurement of methamphetamine production and 
demonstrate progress in reducing production (e.g., 
destruction of labs) and increasing seizures, particularly 
focusing increased illicit drug seizures from gangs on the 
border with China, India, and Thailand. 
 
Embassy Rangoon Assessment: Limited cooperation. 
 
Declining poppy cultivation has been matched by a sharp 
increase in the production and export of synthetic drugs. 
 
Burma remains a primary source of amphetamine-type 
substances (ATS) produced in Asia.  While the GOB has 
significantly increased the quantity of methamphetamines 
seized, trafficking efforts disrupted, and narcotics labs 
destroyed in 2007, international drug enforcement agencies 
see indications that ATS production levels continue to 
soar. 
 
Traffickers continue to use clandestine labs inside Burma 
to make ATS, using chemical precursors smuggled from India 
and China, and to smuggle narcotics across the Thai and 
Chinese borders for distribution within Thailand and China, 
and for transshipment, primarily to other Asian countries 
and Australia. 
 
The GOB does not have a mechanism for the measurement of 
ATS production. 
 
RANGOON 00000501  004.2 OF 007 
 
 
 
D. The USG asked the GOB to continue cooperation with China 
and Thailand and expand cooperation to other neighboring 
countries, such as India, Laos, and Vietnam, to control the 
production and trafficking of illicit narcotics and the 
diversion of precursor chemicals. 
 
Embassy Rangoon Assessment:  Adequate cooperation. 
 
The GOB maintains a regular dialogue on precursor chemicals 
with India, China, Thailand, and Laos.  As a result, India 
and China have taken steps, including the creation of 
exclusion zones, to divert precursors away from Burma's 
border areas.  The GOB has also cooperated with these 
countries on a variety of counter-drug law enforcement 
issues. 
 
GOB cooperation with China and Thailand has been the most 
productive, yielding arrests, seizures, and extraditions. 
The law enforcement relationship with India has been less 
productive.  Nonetheless, GOB counter-drug officials meet 
on a monthly basis with Indian counterparts at the field 
level at various border towns. 
 
Burma and Thailand jointly operate border liaison offices. 
In 2007, Thailand added a drug enforcement liaison officer 
to its embassy staff in Rangoon.  Burma and Laos, with the 
assistance of the UNODC, conduct joint anti-drug patrols on 
the Mekong River. 
 
Burma became a member of the Asia/Pacific Group on Money 
Laundering in January 2006, and is a party to the 1988 UN 
Drug Convention.  Over the past several years, the 
Government of Burma has expanded its counter-narcotics 
cooperation with other states.  The GOB has bilateral drug 
control agreements with India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Russia, 
Laos, the Philippines, China, Indonesia, and Thailand. 
These agreements include cooperation on drug-related money 
laundering issues. 
 
E.  The USG requested that the GOB enforce existing 
money-laundering laws, including asset forfeiture 
provisions, and fully implement and enforce Burma's 
money-laundering legislation passed in June 2002. 
 
Assessment:  Adequate cooperation. 
 
In October 2006, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) 
removed Burma from the FATF list of Non-Cooperative 
Countries and Territories (NCCT), but advised the Burmese 
Government to enhance regulation of the financial sector. 
The Government of Burma continues to submit progress 
reports to FATF on its anti-money laundering program.  In 
October 2007, due to progress on anti-money laundering 
measures, FATF ended formal monitoring of Burma.  FATF 
continues to monitor Burma on an informal basis. 
 
The U.S. maintains the separate countermeasures issued by 
the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network of the Treasury 
Department, adopted in 2004 under Section 311 of the 2001 
USA Patriot Act, which found the jurisdiction of Burma and 
two private Burmese banks, Myanmar Mayflower Bank and Asia 
Wealth Bank, to be "of primary money laundering concern," 
and requiring U.S. banks to take special measures with 
respect to all Burmese banks, with particular attention to 
Myanmar Mayflower and Asia Wealth Bank. 
 
Burma is a party to the UN Convention against Transnational 
Organized Crime and ratified the UN Convention on 
Corruption in December 2005 and the UN International 
 
RANGOON 00000501  005.2 OF 007 
 
 
Convention for the Suppression of the Financing Terrorism 
in September 2006.  The GOB now has in place a framework to 
allow mutual legal assistance and cooperation with overseas 
jurisdictions in the investigation and prosecution of 
serious crimes. 
 
In 2005, the GOB instituted an on-site examination program 
for financial institutions and closed three major banking 
institutions (Asia Wealth Bank, Myanmar Mayflower Bank, and 
the Myanmar Universal Bank) for violations of banking 
regulations.  The banks were allegedly involved in 
laundering money linked to the illicit narcotic trade. In 
August 2005, the GOB, with the assistance of DEA, seized 
assets of the Myanmar Universal Bank and arrested its 
Chairman, Tin Sein, and sentenced him to death for 
laundering UWSA drug proceeds. The total value of seized 
bank accounts, property, and personal assets exceeded $25 
million. 
 
As a result of the promulgation in 2004 of the Mutual 
Assistance in Criminal Matters Law (MACML) and subsequent 
measures to address money laundering and terrorism 
financing, Burma gained membership in the Asia Pacific 
Group on Money Laundering in March 2006.  In July 2005, 
Burma and Thailand signed an MOU on the exchange of 
information relating to money-laundering. 
 
With the exception of the Myanmar Universal Bank case, the 
GOB has not made public the results of its investigations 
into private banks, nor made explicit connections between 
the banks and money laundering.  In 2006-2007, the Burmese 
Government amended its "Control of Money Laundering Law" to 
expand the list of predicate offenses.  In July 2007, the 
Central Control Board issued five directives to bring more 
non-bank financial institutions under the AML/CFT 
compliance regime.  As of August 2007, 823 suspicious 
transaction reports had been received.  One case related to 
trafficking in persons was filed for prosecution, resulting 
in convictions of 20 individuals under the "Control of 
Money Laundering Law" and the Trafficking in Persons Law. 
In the first eight months of 2007, seven cases had been 
identified as potential money laundering cases. 
 
Since August 2005, there have been no significant 
prosecutions of banking or government officials in cases 
related to laundering of drug money, and administrative and 
judicial authorities lack resources to investigate and 
enforce the anti-money laundering regulations at all 
levels.  The government continues to award contracts for 
construction and other major infrastructure projects to 
corporations established by or linked to suspected major 
drug traffickers. 
 
F. The USG urged the GOB to prosecute drug-related 
corruption, especially corrupt government and military 
officials who facilitate drug trafficking and money 
laundering. 
 
Embassy Rangoon Assessment:  Inadequate cooperation. 
 
Burma is tied with Somalia for the lowest rank of all 
countries in the 2007 Transparency International corruption 
index.  Government officials, particularly those posted in 
border areas, are widely believed to be involved in 
facilitating the drug trade. 
 
According to the GOB, between 1995 and 2003, officials 
prosecuted and punished over 200 police officials and 48 
Burmese Army personnel for narcotics-related corruption or 
drug abuse.  There is no evidence that the GOB took any 
 
RANGOON 00000501  006.2 OF 007 
 
 
similar actions over the past four years.  The GOB has 
never prosecuted a Burmese Army officer over the rank of 
full colonel. 
 
G. The USG asked the GOB to expand demand-reduction, 
prevention, and drug treatment programs to reduce drug use 
and control the spread of HIV/AIDS. 
 
Embassy Rangoon Assessment:  Limited cooperation 
 
Although drug abuse levels remain low in Burma compared to 
neighboring countries, the addict population could be as 
high as 300,000 abusers, including a growing number of 
injecting drug users (IDU) and regular consumers of ATS. 
The World Health Organization estimates there are between 
60,000 and 90,000 IDUs in Burma. 
 
The HIV epidemic in Burma, one of the most serious in Asia, 
continues to expand rapidly.  UNAIDS estimates that 34 
percent of officially reported HIV cases are attributable 
to intravenous drug use, one of the highest rates in the 
world.  HIV prevalence among injecting drug users was 46.2 
percent in 2007. 
 
The GOB's prevention and drug treatment programs suffer 
from inadequate resources and a lack of high-level 
government support.  Demand reduction programs are in part 
coercive and in part voluntary.  There are six major drug 
treatment centers under the Ministry of Health, 49 other 
smaller detox centers, and eight rehabilitation centers 
which, together, have provided treatment to about 70,000 
addicts over the past decade.  Burmese authorities have 
also collaborated with UNODC in expanding anti-drug 
campaigns as well as establishing treatment and 
rehabilitation programs.  The GOB's Myanmar Anti-Narcotic 
Association, for example, has supported UNODC drop-in 
centers in Northern Shan State and Kachin State, which 
treated more than 8,000 addicts in 2006-2007.  The GOB also 
conducted several outreach projects through the public 
school system. 
 
In 2006, the Ministry of Health began to treat heroin 
addicts with Methadone Maintenance Therapy (MMT) in four 
drug treatment centers found in Rangoon, Mandalay, Lashio, 
and Myitkyina.  The Ministry of Health also began 
dispensing methadone treatment in three additional sites, 
two in Kachin State and one in Rangoon Division.  By August 
2007, the Ministry of Health had treated more than 370 
patients using MMT.  Several international NGOs have 
effective demand reduction programs, including Care 
International, World Concern, and Population Services 
International (PSI). 
 
Although the GOB, working with partners, has maintained the 
above-mentioned programs, Burma has failed to expand 
demand-reduction, prevention, and drug treatment programs 
to reduce drug use and control the spread of HIV/AIDS.  The 
Global Fund, which had a budget of $98.5 million to fight 
HIV/AIDS, TB, and Malaria in Burma, withdrew in 2005.  In 
2006, foreign donors established the Three Diseases Fund 
(3DF) to provide humanitarian assistance for HIV/AIDS, TB, 
and Malaria.  The 3DF, with its budget of $100 million over 
five years, supports the work of local and international 
NGOs, the United Nations, and the Ministry of Health.  In 
2007, the 3DF supported HIV/AIDS programs such as HIV 
surveillance and training on blood safety.  The 3DF also 
provided funds for anti-retroviral therapy and the MMT 
program. 
 
End Text of 2007 Certification Report Card. 
 
RANGOON 00000501  007.2 OF 007 
 
 
 
VILLAROSA