Asia burns illicit drugs

It was Burma's largest drug bonfire

Burma and Thailand have burned more than $1bn-worth of illicit drugs in dramatic demonstrations that they are tackling their reputation as the world's major narcotics centres.

Several foreign journalists, diplomats and United Nations officials were invited to watch Burma's bonfire of opium, heroin and amphetamines, timed to mark the United Nations International Narcotics Day.

Most of the world's illicit opium comes from the "golden triangle" - the mountainous area of Burma, Laos and Thailand just south of the Chinese border - now that the poppy production in Afghanistan has fallen sharply.

Thailand also accuses Burma of being responsible for the millions of amphetamines flooding Thai cities.

Unprecedented size

Although drug-burning ceremonies are regular events in Burma, this was by far the largest bonfire of seized narcotics ever mounted by the military regime.

Three thousand kilos of opium, 240 kilograms of purified heroin powder and 40 million tiny stimulant tablets - worth more than $1bn on the streets of the United States - were shovelled into an incinerator.

Nearby, a steam roller crushed lines of bottles of syrup laced with the drug codeine.

Burma is a major supplier of opium, the ingredient for heroin

"The Myanmar government is totally aware of the scaring threat and is seriously undertaking and trying its utmost best to combat these deplorable drugs as a national duty," Brigadier-General Zaw Win said in a speech prior to the show.

The BBC's Damian Grammaticas says that along with the recent release from house arrest of the pro-democracy leader Aung Sang Suu Kyi, the drug destruction is an effort to end Burma's international isolation and win desperately needed development aid.

Meanwhile, in neighbouring Thailand, police burned drugs worth 5.3bn baht ($126m) in the ancient capital of Ayutthaya.

Increased pressure from Thailand and China has encouraged Burma to take more rigorous measures to curb production.

Making progress

In the past, Burma's frequent drug bonfires have been dismissed as publicity stunts because they hardly dented the country's massive drug industry.

But in the past two years UN anti-narcotics officials believe the Burmese military government has managed to reduce the amount of poppies grown by some 30%.

The main problem is that most of the poppies are grown in areas controlled by ethnic minorities.

The Kokang, Shan and Wa have all used the proceeds from drugs to build large rebel armies, even though they have signed ceasefire agreements with Rangoon and promised to stop their involvement in the trade.

Now even the United States - one of Burma's staunchest critics - accepts that the generals are reducing the amount of raw opium being produced in the "golden triangle", but Western narcotics specialists believe there has been a major shift there to amphetamine production, which is much harder to detect and control.