Myanmar seizes 1,200 kg of ephedrine powder near China border

Japan Policy & Politics, Dec 31, 2001

YANGON, Dec. 25 Kyodo

Myanmar has seized 1,200 kilograms of ephedrine powder, the main precursor chemical for making stimulant drugs, several other precursor chemicals and drug-making equipment in the Lokkai area, some 780 kilometers northeast of Yangon near the border with China, state-run newspapers reported Tuesday.

Myanmar's antidrug squad, in cooperation with the authorities in Kokang State and from China, raided a house near the Kokang capital Dec. 13, the papers said.

Equipment for making tablets, 1,200 kilograms of ephedrine power and 24 other precursor chemicals, including 675 liters of acetic anhydride and 225 liters chloroform, were seized and four suspects in the house were arrested.

Search of another house in the town led to seizure of 293 liters of sulfuric acid, 6,142 liters of ether and one M-16 automatic weapon and the arrests of two more suspects.

The suspects are being changed under the Narcotic Drug and Psychotropic Substances Law, the newspaper reports said.