• Burmese
Saturday, July 19, 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

Sagaing Division Police Arrested on Drug Smuggling Allegations

Zarni Mann by Zarni Mann
June 18, 2013
in Uncategorized
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0 0
A A
Sagaing Division Police Arrested on Drug Smuggling Allegations

In February

3.8k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

RANGOON — Two high-ranking police officers from areas in Sagaing Division on Burma’s remote border with India were arrested this weekend on allegations of involvement in drug smuggling, national police sources said.

“The two officers, one from Tamu Township Police Office and another from Kalay District Police Office, were detained and are under investigation for their involvement in smuggling,” said an officer at the National Police Headquarters in Naypyidaw, referring to two areas of Sagaing Division.

Radio Free Asia reported on Monday that Tamu Township Police Chief Hla Win and Kalay District Deputy Police Chief Naing Zaw Htun had been put under arrest.

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

“We heard that other policemen from those offices were also under questioning, but we cannot give concrete information as this is a special mission by a team and we do not receive any details yet,” said the officer, who declined to be named as she was unauthorized to speak to the media.

She said the police team had seized more than 20 unlicensed vehicles that had been brought from India and also confiscated a load of Indian-produced medicine that had been smuggled into Burma.

Cheap, over-the-counter medicine from India is often used to extract pseudoephedrine, which can be used as a chemical precursor for the illicit manufacture of methamphetamine.

An officer from Kalay District Police Office confirmed that two senior officers had been arrested over the weekend, but he declined to provide further information on the case.

The arrests follow the police seizure last week of an illicit haul of medicine, precious hardwood and captured wildlife, including several pangolins, in Kalewa Township, according to a community leader from Kalay District capital Kalaymyo.

“It seems news reach Naypyidaw about the involvement of local police [in this case],” the man said, adding that a special police investigation team from the capital had been dispatched in response. “The team arrived here by airplane and no policemen from Kalay knew about this,” he said.

The Kalaymyo community leader said many corrupt police officers were deeply involved in cross-border smuggling in the region. “Actually, police have been involved in smuggling medicine, drugs, forestry products, and taking bribes from unlicensed vehicle-owners since long time ago. They even own those vehicles,” he said.

The Kalay-Tamu region in Sagaing Division straddles the remote border with India’s northeastern region and smuggling of drugs, medicine and illicit forestry products has thrived in the remote region for many years.

Government officials are believed to be involved in much of this trade, and have reportedly even sold arms to Indian insurgency groups based on the other side of the border.

Seizures of contraband and arrests are regularly reported in the region, which is becoming increasingly popular as a transit route among drug manufacturers, who use pseudoephedrine-based tablets to make methamphetamines headed for Thailand and China.

In February, state-owned newspaper The New Light of Myanmar reported that police in Tamu Township seized about 100 kilogram of pseudoephedrine-based cold and flu tablets and a large cache of weapons. The weapons included “96 assorted small arms, 60 assorted shells, 23 landmines, 7,907 assorted rounds of ammunition, 195 assorted magazines and 250 bullets and 4 coils of wires used for explosions.”

Nang Seng Nom contributed to this story

Your Thoughts …
Tags: Drug & Crime
Zarni Mann

Zarni Mann

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
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
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
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
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
Burma Imprisons Two Muslim Women for Sparking Okkan Unrest

Burma Imprisons Two Muslim Women for Sparking Okkan Unrest

North Korea Nuclear Test Still Shrouded in Mystery

North Korea Nuclear Test Still Shrouded in Mystery

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

Myanmar Junta’s Recapture of Nawnghkio Shows Strategic Missteps by TNLA

Myanmar Junta’s Recapture of Nawnghkio Shows Strategic Missteps by TNLA

2 days ago
1.3k
Chinese Investment Reshapes Myanmar’s N. Shan as MNDAA Consolidates Power

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

1 week ago
3.5k

Most Read

  • Myanmar Junta’s Power Transfer Looms, but Real Control to Remain With Regime Boss

    Myanmar Junta’s Power Transfer Looms, but Real Control to Remain With Regime Boss

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta’s Recapture of Nawnghkio Shows Strategic Missteps by TNLA

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta Airstrikes Protecting Irrawaddy Flotilla Kill 20

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Karen Fighters Push for Myanmar Junta Outpost on Thai Border

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Indian Army Accused of Deadly Strike on Separatists in Myanmar

    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.