Myanmar, Interpol and the drug trade

The international police did everyone a disservice when they chose Myanmar as the site of a worldwide police conference on heroin. The host country has done nothing to deserve such respect. In recent months, Yangon had begun to try to talk a good game on the fight against drugs trafficking. But Myanmar has made little discernible progress in eradicating drugs. Its cozy deals with several of the world's top traffickers are indefensible. And while no one can defend the growing Thai demand for illegal drugs, Myanmar is the pusher which is profiting.

There was no shame, then, to the Western boycott of the Yangon conference. U.S. and European leaders wanted to make a point about the Myanmar support for drug traffickers. If there is shame surrounding last week's gathering, it falls on some attendees.

Interpol's mission, for example, is to help to arrest Khun Sa and Lo Hsing-han, top heroin smugglers. Yet Paul Higdon, Interpol's director of criminal intelligence, showed no embarrassment about attending a conference about a kilometer away from the known residences of the two wanted men. Mr. Higdon shrugged that Myanmar had to make difficult deals to ensure peace with its ethnic minorities.

It is necessary to be fair. The Myanmar drug problem is far beyond an easy solution. The nation is a world center for poppies, and the largest illegal amphetamine producer in Asia. This problem cannot be solved overnight. Nor can it be solved by Myanmar alone. International efforts are absolutely necessary to solve international narcotics trafficking.

But remove the dictatorial politics from the equation and Myanmar still falls far short. Yangon's problem is precisely that it will not cooperate with its neighbors or with international antinarcotics experts.

-- The Bangkok Post