Shan Drug Watch: Druglords in Parliament

By Shan Herald Agency for News • November 17, 2011

Shan State North almost became poppy-free in 2002, when the ruling military junta initiated a rapprochement policy with the United States and a vigorous anti-narcotics campaign was launched. The rapprochement did not work out, but the Kokang (in 2003) and the Wa (in 2005), apparently due to Chinese pressure, launched their own drug eradication campaigns, thereby bringing opium cultivation in the north almost to a stop. This was except for a few selective areas like Namkham, Mantong, Kutkhai and Tangyan where the regime’s favorite militia groups remained supreme: Panhsay, the Kachin Defense Army, Manpang and Mongha.

The result was a balloon effect in the south and east of Shan State. By 2007, according to Khun Hseng, Khun Sa’s uncle who used to handle his business dealings, production levels in Shan State were back to what they had been prior to the Kokang and Wa bans.

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