When the Wa undiplomatically turned down his proposal to transform the United Wa State Army (UWSA) into a Burma Army-run Border Guard Force, Naypyitaw went on to prove they meant business.

Boom days over for Wa
TUESDAY, 29 SEPTEMBER 2009 16:48 S.H.A.N.
Meeting with the Wa leaders in Shan State North’s Tangyan in April, Naypyitaw’s chief negotiator Lt-Gen Ye Myint reportedly told them in effect that the ceasefire era was finished.

When the Wa undiplomatically turned down his proposal to transform the United Wa State Army (UWSA) into a Burma Army-run Border Guard Force, Naypyitaw went on to prove they meant business.

In 2005, a shipment of 496 kg of heroin was seized from the Wa in Mongpiang. The culprits among whom was Bao Ai Pan, the supreme Wa leader’s relative, were sent to jail, but the overall Wa relations with Naypyitaw did not change significantly.

But following the Wa’s rejection of the BGF proposal, things were no longer the same.

On 11 September, 3 million yaba pills were seized in Tachilek, opposite Thailand’s Maesai. The police source, when interviewed by Irrawaddy, said the pills came from the Wa capital Panghsang. His unexpected answer had reportedly stunned veteran Burma watchers in Thailand.
On 27 September, another 200 packets (400,000 pills) were seized at Wanpong, east of Tachilek and on the Gold Triangle, were seized together with 7 villagers working at the Wa agricultural project. “The Wa days (as drug entrepreneurs) are definitely numbered,” said a border watcher.

(N.B. 200 pills make 1 bag
5 bags make 1 roll
2 rolls make 1 packet
50 packets make 1 backpack)

On the same day, a location near the ceasefire Shan State Army (SSA) North’s 7th Brigade base in Kunhing had a surprise raid by Burma Army troops. “The place was reported to have been the site of a refinery,” said a source close to the SSA North. “But they found nothing.”