Local discuss druglord’s staying power
The marvel of druglord Naw Kham who is on the run is not the chase launched recently by the Burmese and Lao security forces but the fact that he had been able to run his illegal activities for so long, according to local sources both in Thailand and Burma’s Shan State.
By SHAN
27 February 2009
Naw Kham, 48, a former pro-Burma Army militia leader, went underground in 2006 to become one of the most successful racketeers along the Mekong, particularly in its Golden Triangle, where Burma, Laos and Thailand meet.
When the order came to launch a military operation against him and his estimated 50-men band last week, some Lahu militiamen were astonished. “This must be wrong,” one militia leader was quoted as exclaiming. “As far as we know, all the local military and police officers are being fed by him.”
All sources nonetheless have agreed that one reason Naw Kham had been able to run his protection racket in the locality was because Burmese authorities have turned a blind eye to him.
At least three others, one Thai businessman, one Thai security official and one Shan businessman have also given another identical reason: the undercurrent of resentment towards China.
The Thai businessman for one had cheered Naw Kham when he heard a Chinese cargo boat was hit on 18 February during a clash between the racket members and the Burma Army patrol. “Good of him,” he said. “I’ve also wanted to do the same thing for a long time.”
Asked why, he replied, “It’s because they (the Chinese) are acting as if the Mekong were theirs and theirs alone. When their boats come down, there is water. But when our boat goes up, there is no water.”
He was referring to a series of dams being completed and in construction upstream in the Chinese territory.
Likewise, Laotians in Huay Xai, opposite Thailand’s Chiang Khong, had reportedly expressed jubilation when Naw Kham’s men shot up a Chinese patrol boat and wounded 3 officers last year. Feelings against Chinese were high after people were moved out following a contract with Vientiane to build a casino there, local sources reported at the time.
Continued crackdown on Naw Kham on the Burmese side since 19 February has resulted in several seizures, according to militia sources:
6 M16 automatic rifles
30 AK47 automatic rifles
4 RPGs
2 pistols
10,000 plus cartridges (assorted)
B 22 million
½ truckload of heroin
8 gunny sacks of yaba (methamphetamines)
http://www.shanland.org/
