Drug bust at ARG’s farm

By Cha Lu Aung 13 Jun 2019

Cha Lu Aung | DMG

12 June, Sittwe 

Police sealed up the farm belonging to the Arakan Rakkhita Group (ARG) located besides Maungdaw-Ahgumaw road near Khayay Myaing village, Maungdaw Township, after finding drugs in the farm.

Police seized its farm animals such as cattle, goats, pigs and fowl and tractors before declaring the farm was locked down on 10 June, said U Tun Hla Aung, administrator of Khayay Myaing village.

“Authorities from different departments including forestry, land survey, anti-drug squad and border guard force arrived at the farm yesterday. Agricultural property owners of the ARG were sent to Magyi Chaung police station. No one is allowed to enter the farm. The door is sealed shut. Authorities said that they closed the farm under the instructions of their superior,” the village administrator said.

Myanmar Police Force said that regional police searched the farm on 9 June and confiscated 399,550 WY/ R stimulant tablets kept in six empty UPG paint cans (worth K799 million) they also seized a motorcycle.

Five people from the farm including the manager of the farm and a supervisor of the workers were detained, police said and adding that it has known that the drugs had been carried from Sittwe after police had done a series of interrogations about the case.

However, Ma Khin Aye, wife of the manager of the farm, said that the drugs were found at an old building located opposite of the farm and she thought it was a kind of fabrication.

“We don’t know anything. I have been working here for five years. The group was not involved with drugs. In this case, the drugs were not found on our compound. Police found them at an old building opposite of the farm. It looks like our group was set up,” Ma Khin Aye said.

Police confiscated 100 cows, 50 chickens, 1000 paddy baskets and 3 tractors, she added.

Police arrested other people connected with the case, including U Ba Aye, the owner of the farm, in Mrauk-U town. He has been working as the chairperson of the group since 2017, according to the police’s statement.

Police are continuing the investigating in order to link other people to the case, it said.

The ARG is providing aid for local farmers in Arakan State with agricultural technology and machines to use for cultivation and reaping, the ARG said.