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discreetly, for trafficking
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11. Thirdly, there is evidence that individual police officers are involved in narcotics trafficking. Under the brother
· system, which operates in Thailand, police officers in receipt of profits from drugs would share out some of the money with their fellows. The corrupt officers would certainly take care to remain on good terms with other police officers. Besides this, Thais in general tend to admire people who
succeed in getting rich.
12. Fourthly, there is circumstantial evidence to link the KMT, the biggest drug traders in the Golden Triangle, with
the top army command. formal agreement was reached with
Supreme Command Headquarters ( General Kriangsak handles this subject) in 1972 whereby the KMT could remain in Thailand in exchange for a guarantee to keep the frontier and deny certain areas to "Communist terrorists". The Thais paid the KMT one million dollars (of American money) in exchange for twenty six tons of opium, which was burnt before witnesses. The KP said they would stop trading in opium and would settle down on land provided by Supreme Command Headquarters. Ban Yang village near Fang is an example of such a village. In a further agreement concluded in January, 1975, the KIT, who had not of course stopped any of their activities, arranged to transfer one thousand men to the Shan United Revolutionary Army (SURA). SURA will contime the opium business but any
of drug trafficking
ex-KIT soldiers caught in the act in future will claim to be SURA. Nothing has changed here, and General Kriangsak still flies up to Chiang Mai in his luxurious personal twin-engined
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