MANDALAY – Munitions and drugs were seized in two homes in the Karenni State capital of Loikaw on Thursday, in connection with a large seizure of arms one day earlier in Mandalay Division.
According to the Loikaw police, the bust was related to a case in which 22 guns were seized in Mandalay Division’s Tharzi Township on Wednesday.
“The accomplice, U Dah Rae, is on the run. His wife, Daw Oo Sar, was arrested and the case is under police custody,” said a duty officer from the Loikaw District police office.
From U Dah Rae’s home, police seized ammunition, a car, three grams of opium and 8,900,000 kyats in cash. From the home U Nay Soe Htwe Min—arrested in Mandalay on Wednesday—detonators, grenades, gunpowder and cash worth 140,000,000 kyats were seized.
According to the police, U Dah Rae is believed to have sold arms to the couple arrested for illegal possession of the guns in Mandalay Division, and he is allegedly a member of the Karenni State Liberation Front.
“We are investigating the case in order to take action against everyone who is involved in this illegal arms trade,” said the police.
On Wednesday, U Nay Soe Htwe Min and Mya Hsu Hnin—his wife—were arrested in Tharzi Township, Mandalay Division during a routine search of their car at a toll gate. The couple was reportedly driving to Mandalay from Loikaw. According to their statements to the police, the guns were intended to be sold in Kale Township in Sagaing Division, near the Indo-Burma border town of Tamu.
