A deputy regional commander in Shan State has been charged of involvement in the drug trade by a former militia commander who has been on the run since 2 May.

Lt-Col Maung Hla aka Sai Ya, who was interviewed by phone, told S.H.A.N. Brig-Gen Win Myint, deputy commander of the Taunggyi-based Eastern Region Command, was the patron of his refinery in Wan Yerng, Laikha township, 29 miles east of Taunggyi.

“And now it is him who had ordered our capture when things threaten to blow up in his face,” said Maung Hla. “He’s only trying to cover his ass.”

The raid on 2 May netted 380 kg of #3 heroin ($1.5 million), 300 million kyat ($230,000), 4 of Maung Hla’s colleagues including Agga and their wives, among others. The BBC that interviewed him on 27 May also reported seizure of 50 motor vehicles.

The group was formerly part of the 275th Brigade of the Shan State National Army (SSNA), a ceasefire group until last year, when it returned to the armed struggle following the Burma Army’s efforts to have it disarmed. In 1996, the 275th decided to become a pro-Rangoon militia force. It later split further into two factions: Mongyawn, Mongkerng township, led by Kanna and his son Sai Kyaw, and Wan Yerng, Laikha township, led by Maung Hla and Agga.