Myanmar Denies Arrest of Wa Drug Kingpin Wei Hsueh-kang

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, July 25, 2003

Myanmar Denies Arrest of Wa Drug Kingpin Wei Hsueh-kang

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Kyaw Thein, who is the chief of military intelligence and in charge of drug control in Myanmar, rejected Thai intelligence reports that wanted Wa drug kingpin Wei Hsueh-kang had been arrested near Myanmar-Chinese border, the Bangkok Post reported Friday.

Kyaw Thein, who was attending the Ministerial Meeting of the Pentalateral Cooperation on Drug Control held in Chiang Rai, 900 kilometers north of Bangkok, told reporters that he had not received such information.

He also denied that the Myanmar government knew Wei's exact whereabouts, saying no country, not even Thailand, could produce solid evidence to verify Wei's whereabouts and to his knowledge, Wei was not in Myanmar.

Kyaw Thein challenged Thai government to present Myanmar with more solid information.

Moreover, he said he had no information that Wei was a key financier of the United Wa State Army's (UWSA) illicit drug-makingoperation.

However, Thai Justice Minister Pongthep Thepkanchana insisted that Wei was still actively involved in drug trafficking and Thai intelligence reports that he was hiding in Myanmar were reliable.

Wei, a fugitive drug lord who is wanted by Thailand and the United States and who has a 2-million dollars bounty on his head, was reported by the Thai local media as the commander of the UWSA's 171st Division, located just kilometers from the border with Chiang Rai.

Also known by his Thai name Prasit Cheewinnitipanya, Wei was sentenced to life imprisonment by a Thai court in 1987, but jumpedbail shortly afterward while the sentence was under appeal. Thailand's Interior Ministry revoked his Thai nationality in 2001.

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