Myanmar seizes 53.4 kg of heroin

Myanmar seizes 53.4 kg of heroin

YANGON (Reuters): Myanmar's official news agency said on Sunday that authorities had seized 53.42 kg of heroin and more than half a million stimulant tablets in a raid in the north of the country.

The drugs were seized on Jan. 24 in Tachilek, 1,264 km north of Yangon, after a tipoff from a "duty conscious" person, the Myanma News Agency reported. Five people arrested in the raid would face legal action, it said.

Military-ruled Myanmar has said authorities seized 403 kg of heroin, 5,394 kg of opium, 380 kg (of marijuana) and more than 16 million stimulant tablets in 1998.

But overseas officials working to stem the flood of narcotics from Myanmar's refineries have expressed doubt about the government's commitment to eradicating the menace. Myanmar is one of the world's leading producers of heroin.