Myanmar Reportedly Seizes Drug Warlord’s Stronghold

BANGKOK, Thailand —  About 1,500 government troops in Myanmar have taken over the jungle headquarters of drug warlord Khun Sa in the opium-growing Golden Triangle, but his whereabouts are unclear, civilian sources said Tuesday.

Civilians in the jungle stronghold of Ho Mong on the edge of Myanmar’s eastern Shan state, about 19 miles from the Thai border, said in telephone interviews that the troops met no resistance when they entered the town Monday.

Most guerrilla officials and fighters in Khun Sa’s Mong Tai (Shan state) Army had quietly left the town by the weekend, one civilian said by telephone from Ho Mong.

Former associates of Khun Sa, 61, were convinced that the wily guerrilla commander had cut a deal with Myanmar authorities in which he would hand over his guerrillas and territories in return for amnesty.

Khun Sa has been indicted in the United States on drug-trafficking charges, and Thailand has said he would be extradited if he was ever found on Thai soil.

Myanmar’s military government has condemned Khun Sa as a drug-running “terrorist” and said previously that it would never negotiate with him and would put him on trial if he was caught.

Khun Sa has long claimed to be a nationalist fighting for the independence of Myanmar’s Shan people. He said he taxed opium traders moving through his zone of control only to finance his political battles.

Khun Sa’s group was the most powerful guerrilla force still fighting the Yangon government. However, Khun Sa suffered a serious setback in June when several thousand of his fighters broke away. Leaders of the breakaway group complained that Khun Sa was devoting too much attention to the drug trade.

In November, a dejected Khun Sa officially stepped down as the Mong Tai Army’s commander.

The first hint that he may have struck a deal came Saturday when government troops were handed a outpost at Doi Lang on the Thai border, to the east of Ho Mong.

A Mong Tai Army officer who traveled to Thailand shortly before government forces took the base said the situation was confused.

“We were told our commanders were negotiating with Myanmar for a cease-fire, but it turned out [they were] allowing Burmese . . . troops to take over our bases,” he said.