Government arresting the “branches” not the top of the drug dealer tree, says Deputy Speaker

February 28, 2020

HURFOM: On February 18, 2020, the Deputy Speaker of the Mon State Parliament Dr Aung Naing Oo criticized the government for failing to arrest top of the tree drug dealers, instead they are just arresting their “branches”.

“In dealing with drug problems in Mon State, the government is just arresting the “branches”. It fails to arrest the “main root…It’s very important to eradicate the main root,” said the Deputy Speaker.

The Deputy Speaker made his comments during a ceremony of Mon Literature Talk organized in Maw Kanin village, Ye Township on February 18, 2020.

“As far as I know, there is a drug production site between Thanbyuzayat and Ye. One of the armed groups has been producing drugs. If the military, the New Mon State Party (NMSP) and the Karen National Union (KNU) launched an operation to defeat the site, the drug problem in Mon State would be nearly ended,” said Dr Aung Naing Oo.

In Mon State, there are community based organizations (CBO’s) educating residents about the dangers of drug abuse and the NMSP has been making arrests of those involved in the drug trade. Despite these efforts, there is no decline of the drug trade and abuse in Mon State.

In 2018, the NMSP formed a 45-member anti drug committee with15 representatives from the monk community, 15 from the NMSP and 15 from the CBOs. The committee helped establish a rehabilitation center for drug addicts in Wel Zin Area, Tavoyan District, an NMSP controlled area.

On May 2, 2019, Dr Aung Naing Oo also submitted a proposal to the Mon State Parliament urging the government, the military and the ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) to launch a coordinated anti-drug campaign.

Article #25 of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) also states that the military and EAOs must cooperate in the elimination of drugs.

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