• Burmese
Friday, July 11, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
26 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home News Burma

Police Accused in Vigilante Drug Bust in Northern Shan State

Lawi Weng by Lawi Weng
January 26, 2015
in Uncategorized
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0 0
A A
Police Accused in Vigilante Drug Bust in Northern Shan State

A photo circulated online shows two men in stockades

4.6k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

RANGOON — Two men have been detained in Namkham Township, northern Shan State, after a group of antinarcotics vigilantes say they apprehended the duo in possession of illicit drugs.

Kyaw Sein, a youth activist from Namkham who leads antinarcotics efforts in the region, told The Irrawaddy that the two men had driven a motorbike to Mang Kah village on Saturday morning and planned to sell drugs to local residents when they were confronted by antinarcotics activists.

“We got many tips that they were coming, but we did not know what type of drugs they would have with them. We waited to arrest them in the village. All the youths surrounded them, and they tried to ditch their drug stash, but they could not do it. So, we found them with drugs on them,” Kyaw Sein told The Irrawaddy.

RelatedPosts

Pills Pour Over Border from India to Fuel Burma’s Narcotics Boom

Pills Pour Over Border from India to Fuel Burma’s Narcotics Boom

August 9, 2016
3.8k
Militia-Backed Rangoon High-Rise Defies Govt Suspension Orders

Militia-Backed Rangoon High-Rise Defies Govt Suspension Orders

August 5, 2016
6.2k
Lawmakers Blame Burma’s Drug Problem on Warlord-Govt Nexus

Lawmakers Blame Burma’s Drug Problem on Warlord-Govt Nexus

August 4, 2016
4.5k

The two men have been held at the Namkham police station since Saturday, when they were allegedly found with more than 90 amphetamine pills and a small amount of heroin.

Accounts differ on the identities of the pair, according to Kyaw Sein, who said police are claiming that only one of the men is a police officer, while locals maintain that the duo both hold badges.

A photo circulated via social media shows two men in stockades, with one man wearing a Myanmar Police Force uniform while the other is dressed in plainclothes.

An unnamed officer at the police station in Namkham told The Irrawaddy that he was not authorized to comment when asked about the identities of the two men.

Kyaw Sein claimed the two men did not provide their real names when asked.

“This is why we cannot stop illegal drug trafficking in Namkham—because police are involved in the drug trafficking. They extort taxes from drug dealers or seize the drugs and then sell them back to the dealers,” he said.

On Jan. 9, police seized more than 30 pounds of heroin in the town of Namkham, and detained a Chinese national who they found with the illegal substance in his car.

Namkham is known for its thriving trade in illicit drugs, according to antinarcotics activists, who say police often turn a blind eye or even participate in the sale and distribution of drugs.

Wider Namkham is a mountainous patchwork of poppy fields that is under the control of the local Pansay militia. Locals say Pansay charges a tax on the many farmers in the region who grow poppies, the precursor to heroin and methamphetamine.

Meanwhile, fighting in Namkham Township involving the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), pro-government Pansay soldiers and the Burma Army flared on Sunday and continued on Monday, according to TNLA communications officer Mai Aike Kyaw, who linked the renewed violence to drug eradication efforts of the TNLA.

The latest clashes occurred after TNLA soldiers entered an ethnic Lisu village and ordered local farmers to destroy their poppy crops, Mai Aike Kyaw said.

Troops from the TNLA ordered the crops’ destruction near in the Lisu village of Pan Mol, an area that is under the control of the Pansay militia, according to local sources. Fighting broke out after two poppy farms were destroyed on Sunday between the TNLA and Pansay soldiers, with the latter later reinforced by the Burma Army’s Light Infantry Battalion 77.

“More troops from the Burma Army arrived in the village, and fighting broke out again this morning,” said Kyaw Sein on Monday.

Your Thoughts …
Tags: Drug & Crime
Lawi Weng

Lawi Weng

The Irrawaddy

Similar Picks:

Video Journalist Recounts a Death Amid the Chaos
Burma

Video Journalist Recounts a Death Amid the Chaos

by Myat Su Mon
September 27, 2013
9.5k

Yan Naing, a video journalist at the Democratic Voice of Burma tells of capturing the shooting of Kenji Nagai during...

Read moreDetails
Experts Reject Claims of ‘Rohingya Mujahideen’ Insurgency
Burma

Experts Reject Claims of ‘Rohingya Mujahideen’ Insurgency

by Paul Vrieze
July 15, 2013
21.6k

Security experts say it is possible that some militant Rohingyas have contacted Indonesian hardline Muslim groups, but they dismiss reports...

Read moreDetails
Wa Tycoon’s Jade Ties Exposed in New Report
Burma

Wa Tycoon’s Jade Ties Exposed in New Report

by Seamus Martov
December 4, 2015
9.1k

A new report by Global Witness exposes links between the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and Burma’s notoriously shady jade...

Read moreDetails
Actor Min Oak Soe Sentenced to Life for Employee’s Murder
Burma

Actor Min Oak Soe Sentenced to Life for Employee’s Murder

by Htun Htun
July 30, 2015
7.3k

Burmese actor and director Min Oak Soe is sentenced to life imprisonment for the brutal December murder of his former...

Read moreDetails
Activists Urge Harsher Penalty for Child Rape Case in Burma
Burma

Activists Urge Harsher Penalty for Child Rape Case in Burma

by The Irrawaddy
August 6, 2013
7.6k

A restaurant owner in Rangoon is sentenced to eight years in prison for raping a 15-year-old girl, the victim’s lawyer...

Read moreDetails
Book Details Coming Struggle to Kick Burma’s Drug Habit
Burma

Book Details Coming Struggle to Kick Burma’s Drug Habit

by Bertil Lintner
March 24, 2016
5.2k

Burma’s struggle to curb the illicit narcotics trade across its border with China and other neighbors is among the major...

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
Kempinski Hotel Slated for Historical Rangoon Building in Controversial Plan

Kempinski Hotel Slated for Historical Rangoon Building in Controversial Plan

Embassy Action Urged in Killing of Three Burmese Migrants in Thailand

Embassy Action Urged in Killing of Three Burmese Migrants in Thailand

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

Trump’s Tariffs to Hit Myanmar’s Garment Manufacturers Hard

Trump’s Tariffs to Hit Myanmar’s Garment Manufacturers Hard

2 days ago
940
‘Reforms Are Not Optional’: Prominent Activist Urges NUG to Act Before It’s Too Late

‘Reforms Are Not Optional’: Prominent Activist Urges NUG to Act Before It’s Too Late

2 days ago
930

Most Read

  • Chinese Investment Reshapes Myanmar’s N. Shan as MNDAA Consolidates Power

    Chinese Investment Reshapes Myanmar’s N. Shan as MNDAA Consolidates Power

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta Deploying Conscripts in Major Push to Reclaim Lost Territory

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Junta Bombing of Resistance-Held Areas in Mandalay, Karenni Kills Seven Civilians

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Two Prominent Myanmar Ex-Political Prisoners Die Hours Apart in Yangon

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Chin Resistance Tensions Boil Over as CNA Seizes Rival’s Myanmar HQ

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.