Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2015-01-09
Over 100 Chinese nationals have reportedly been arrested by the army of Myanmar for unauthorized logging and the smuggling of local resources, reported China's state-owned Global Times on Jan. 8.
A timber market in Mandalay, Myanmar, March 31, 2011. (File photo/CFP) |
Over 100 Chinese nationals have reportedly been arrested by the army of Myanmar for unauthorized logging and the smuggling of local resources, reported China's state-owned Global Times on Jan. 8.
The
operation is believed to have taken place in early January. A total of 102
foreign nationals believed to be Chinese and 20 locals have been caught, along
with more than 470 vehicles of all sorts carrying timbers and hoists.
Six packets
of opium, a large quantity of ephedrine and 12,000 yuan (US$1,930) were also
found at camp sites in the logging area, in addition to a logging permit signed
by a Kachin Independence Army official, said the report.
The Kachin
Independence Army is a rebel militia fighting for autonomy for the northern
Kachin region within Myanmar.
The
government banned the export of logs in April, 2014, to reduce deforestation
and the country's heavy reliance on pallet exports. According to the forestry
department, Myanmar is going to slash the amount of logged wood in the fiscal
year of 2014-2015 down to 40% of that in 2010-11. Logging activity will be
reduced in Homalin in the northwest and Tanintharyi region in the south of the
country. In the northernmost region of Kachin, logging is prohibited.
According
to local media reports, the Myanmar army started taking action against jade
smuggling last year in the Kachin region, where both local and Chinese
smugglers trade jade and other commodities near the border with China. The army
subsequently spotted unauthorized logging activities and embarked on a
three-day operation from Jan. 2 to 4, 2015 to track those responsible in the
mountainous area.
"Illegal
logging has been going on in the north despite the official ban on the export
of logs announced last April," said a Myanmar forestry official.
"Military operations were conducted because the region is largely
controlled by rebel forces and is inaccessible to forestry personnel."
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