Mizzima: Opium cultivation continues in Shan state

[Mizzima News]

Opium cultivation continues in Shan state

Tun Naing
Mizzima News (www.mizzima.com)
March 17, 2004

Opium cultivation still continues in the Nan Kham township of Shan state
of Burma, according to a local trader.
Although the military acts to restrict opium cultivation this year,
locals said that people close to the local military authorities continue
cultivating opium. Most of the opium cultivation occurs in villages like
Pan Say and Kyan Kar where ethnic Chinese live.

Some plantations are large enough to extract opium resin while others
are still small, said a local trader.Currently 1.35  kilogram of opium
fetch around 3,00,000 Kyats to 4,00,000 Kyats. According to local
testimony, most buyers are Chinese nationals.

According to a trader from Pan Say village, U Kyaw Myint, who is a
Chinese national and a village elder, is the largest cultivator of opium
in the region. He allegedly has a close relationship with Gen. Khin
Nyunt. “Pan Say Kyaw Myint” has not been subjected to restrictions on
cultivating opium in the past.


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