Authorities in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State, have launched a harsh crackdown on the illegal importation and use of cheap Chinese mobile phones.

Offices and homes have been raided and at least three arrests made, according to local residents. The crackdown came days after official warnings were issued about the legal consequences of buying and using Chinese-made phones.

The Chinese phones, smuggled across the Kachin-China border, cost around 100,000 kyat (US $76), a fraction of the 2.5 million kyat ($1,850) demanded for a legally obtained phone. Mobile phone use in Burma is strictly controlled by the government, whose Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications is the country’s only mobile phone service provider.

“Since last week, police have been interrogating in mobile phone shops and suspected houses,” said a Myitkyina resident, who runs pay phone service shop. He told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that at least one mobile phone shop owner and two who run pay phone services had been arrested in the past two days.

One Kachin woman who runs a pay phone service with two Chinese mobile phones was reportedly arrested but released after paying a fine of 100,000 kyat ($76). One pay phone shop owner, who says he only uses government land lines, said the office of one local NGO, the Metta Development Foundation, was also raided by the police last weekend because it was suspected of using illegal mobile phones.

A total of 135,664 mobile phones were in use in Burma at the end of 2005, according to state-run newspaper The New Light of Myanmar. Kachin State has the third highest number of mobile phones in use-3,999, after Rangoon with 112,792 and Mandalay with 16,355.

Although GSM phones are permitted in Burma most owners have only been able to obtain them through close contacts with the regime. Illegally-obtained Chinese models are preferred not only because they are cheaper but for their better servicing and connections. They are particularly popular with business people.

In towns bordering Thailand, such as Myawaddy and Tachilek, users take advantage of the mobile phone service from Thailand.