Drug kingpin arrested after spat

Drug kingpin arrested after spat

THAILAND: Myanmar has arrested a drug kingpin as a sign it is cooperating with neighboring Thailand in the war on drugs, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said on Saturday.

The arrest of the unnamed trafficker follows a spat over how to tackle the festering problem, highlighted by a deadly clash on Wednesday between Thai police and Myanmar drug traffickers followed by a letter from the Thai foreign ministry accusing Yangon of indifference.

"After Foreign Minister Surakiart (Sathirathai) sent an official letter, Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt promptly responded and said that Myanmar has arrested one ethnic Wa drug kingpin," Thaksin said in his weekly radio address.

He did not say when the arrest was made or provide further details.

Surakiart said he had been informed of the arrest of a leader of a drug ring operated by the Kokang armed ethnic group, believed linked to the Yangon-allied United Wa State Army, a feared Myanmar ethnic militia better known as the "Red Wa". -- AFP