16 drug seizures tied to AA group over past decade
213
Htet Nadi (NP News) - Oct 11
In the 10-year period from 2015 to 2025, there have been 16 drug seizures linked to the AA, with the value of the seizures reaching 1,233.67 billion kyats, said Major General Zaw Min Tun, head of the National Defense and Security Council press team.
Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun made the following statement to the media on October 9 regarding the drug trafficking activities carried out by the AA armed group.
The AA group has been transporting and selling drugs in various ways since around 2013. In addition to various packaging methods, they also used oil tanker trucks to transport the drugs. According to the statements of the arrested AA terrorist members, it was revealed that the leader of their terrorist group himself ordered the drugs to be delivered.
“We can see from the testimonies of the AA terrorist insurgents who were captured that they were involved in the drug trafficking and distribution business because the leader of the AA terrorist group, Twat Mrat Naing, himself ordered them to do so,” Maj. Gen. said.
In addition, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun said that drugs linked to the AA armed group were seized one time in 2015, four times in 2019, once in 2020, twice in 2023, twice in 2024, and six times in 2025, totaling 16 times.
“The AA terrorist group was arrested once in 2015 with a value of about 1.65 billion kyats, four times in 2019 with a value of about 59 billion kyats, one time in 2020 with a value of about 10 billion kyats, two times in 2023 with a value of about 155.87 billion kyats, two times in 2024 with a value of about 3.22 billion kyats, and now in 2025 with a value of about 1003.93 billion kyats. There has been a total of 16 drug seizures linked to the AA terrorist group from 2015 to the present day. The total value of the seizures has reached 1233.67 billion kyats. Looking at this amount, you can see how dangerous it is. It is clear to see how much the AA terrorist group has been transporting drugs to the region through the areas they control in Rakhine State,” Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun continued.
In addition, among those arrested in 2023, there were six AA members: Captain Htun Lin (aka) Pyone Cho, Second Lieutenant Nay Lin Htun (aka) Naw Naw (aka) Kyaw Soe and Second Lieutenant Soe Htun, Sergeant Kyaw Han, Soldier Kyaw Lin San, and Soldier U Htun Nu. The remaining six arrested were also members of the AA terrorist group and involved in the drug trade run by the AA terrorist group. Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun said “The AA terrorist groups are giving local residents money and incentives, forcing them to transport narcotic drugs, and not only selling them to locals in Rakhine State but also systematically smuggling and trafficking them through waterways across the border into Bangladesh and further into other countries. This was directly stated by the commanding officer of the Bangladesh Border Guard (BGB) at a press briefing on September 15.”
He added that after these sales, the money obtained is being used by the AA terrorist group to purchase equipment, weapons, and ammunition.
In addition, the PDF, a terrorist group affiliated with the AA insurgents, is also involved in the drug trafficking and distribution route and expects to make profits from it, but behind the large amount of arrests, there are also financial difficulties, divisions, infighting, and mutual accusations and killings, said Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun. –