Saturday's huge drug bust just outside Bangkok is proof, if any were needed, that the government in Myanmar has a long way to go on its self-proclaimed movement towards legitimacy. So, for that matter, have authorities in this country. Police said they found drugs worth more than one billion baht in their raid. Officers turned up millions of speed tablets and dozens of kilogrammes of crystal methamphetamine in a house in Thanyaburi district of Pathum Thani province. Police have leads on the suspected drug dealers, but the real problem lies far from the Thai border in northern Myanmar.
No matter how it is presented, this was a lot of illegal drugs: 3,864,000 tablets of ya baa and 71kg ya ice. The bust by Provincial Police Region 1 officers was a major achievement. But there obviously is plenty more where that came from. Anti-drug officials estimate they seize no more than 10% of smuggled illicit drugs, so a single bust of one billion baht indicates the size of the problem.
In Thailand, the government promised and then began a so-called campaign against drugs. It has _ not counting Saturday's spectacular success _ mostly fizzled along. As always, two major agenda items are missing from the current campaign against drugs. The first is the failure to identify, name and pursue the "Mr Big" makers, smugglers and dealers. Even if police catch everyone involved in the Saturday night bust, it is still only one gang of many. The second missing item is the pressure from the side of the drug abusers and victims _ from education for youngsters to anti-addiction programmes and support projects for those willing to leave drug use behind.
The nexus of drugs, crime and terrorism continues. Last October, US authorities arrested an Iranian resident and charged him with conspiracy in a plot to kill the Saudi Arabian ambassador to Washington. The charge sheet said the disorganised would-be conspirator Mansour Arbabsiar, 56, of Texas, did not try to set up the killing himself. Instead, he went directly to an organisation with experience _ the Zetas drug cartel just across the Mexican border. Already deeply into organised crime, smuggling and violence, the Zetas gang was an obvious place to find experienced killers who were up for a political murder.
Even more to the point given today's headlines in Thailand, was a report last month by US federal prosecutors. They alleged that the Hezbollah militant group of Lebanon was using a vast drug-smuggling network to build a bank account for political activities in Lebanon. They named Lebanese drug kingpin Ayman Joumaa of working with the same Mexican Zetas group to smuggle cocaine, launder "hundreds of millions of dollars" and move the cash into Hezbollah coffers. About the only good news in that is Hezbollah's apparent desire to emphasise politics over terrorism. The arrest and flight of two alleged members of the group in Thailand questions that commitment, however.
In the case of Thailand, no one bears greater responsibility for the continuing drug trade than Myanmar. For decades, the military dictators in that country acquiesced in drug deals, and made deals with drug gangs. The new government under President Thein Sein has been far too quiet about its duty to combat drug manufacturers and smugglers. Saturday's billion-baht bust shows why it is necessary to urge Myanmar to do its duty, face its responsibility, and begin to purge the rot from its northern provinces.