>>43579
>Drugmakers have upgraded their factories. Unlike opium, meth is a synthetic drug made by mixing chemicals. Output on this scale requires hundreds of laboratories with special equipment, such as pres-sure cookers and hydrogen-gas containers, as well as generators as big as those used by hotels and thousands of tonnes of ingredients, mostly trucked in from China.
>The cooking process is sophisticated. The meth produced is of a high purity. Hydrochloric acid, one component, is deadly and explodes if heated to the wrong temperature. Yet no leaks of poisonous gas or chemical blasts have been reported in Shan state. That suggests the chemists are highly skilled, says a Western law-enforcement official: “These are not just some guys making meth in a bathtub in the jungle.”
>Finding out who is controlling the meth trade is tricky. Major De Khan of the Kwang Hka militia, which is based in Kutkai and has about 4,000 troops, claims to have no idea who is responsible. His group is not involved in the drugs trade, he insists, though individual members have been punished for trafficking. Experts scoff at such denials, pointing out that the army and militias maintain checkpoints on the roads and at border crossings. Lorries full of chemicals and equipment could not pass unnoticed. The most likely explanation is that militias, ethnic insurgents and the army are all involved. The money made is probably laundered through casinos and suspiciously empty restaurants owned by militia groups. Many believe the ringleader is the United Wa State Army (uwsa), an armed group that controls large parts of Shan state and has about 30,000 soldiers. Some call it the biggest international criminal organisation in the world.