Every year, June 26 is marked as International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, with various functions all around the world to signify the event. In Bangkok, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime released its World Drug Report 2008, in the presence of Thai officials, foreign diplomats and anti-narcotics officers. In Ayutthaya province Thai authorities incinerated 15 tonnes of confiscated drugs before a crowd of government officials, foreign diplomats and media.

This June 26 would have truly been one to remember if two of the world's most wanted fugitive drug lords _ Wei Hseuh-kang, also known by his Thai names Prasit or Charnchai Chiwinnitipanya, and Surachai Ngernthongfu, alias Bang Ron _ were finally put behind bars in Thailand. Instead they are currently living comfortably in Burma's Wa State, officially called Special Region 2 of Burma's Shan State, which is administrated by the United Wa State Army (UWSA) under its chairman, Pau Yu Chang.

The UWSA also recognised the June 26 anti-drug day with an hour-and-a-half event at the Wa capital of Pang Sang _ not far from the fortified compound where Wei and Bang Ron live, according to a Wa source who participated in the event.

The June 26 event was attended by senior UWSA leaders, including vice-chairman Shao Minliang and deputy commander-in-chief Bo Lai Kham. Both are known to be close and long-time associates of Wei Hseuh-kang. There was no report on the presence of government officials from Burma or China.

In a speech to about 250 invited guests that included representatives from different Wa regions and NGOs, Shao declared that opium cultivation in the state had stopped, and appealed to the international community to increase assistance to the former opium farmers who are suffering badly at the present time.

The source lamented that ''Wei and Bang Ron not only continue to evade arrest, they have strengthened their grip over the highly profitable illicit drug trade. They control the production and trafficking of heroin and synthetic drugs. They are making a lot of money. They should help the farmers as well.''

He confirmed that both men are still protected by the UWSA and said that Pau's record and reputation with regard to drugs is almost on a par with the two fugitives.

He also said that the Burmese government authorities are very limited in their activities inside the Wa-controlled region.

''They can't do very much here at all, because even to enter the region, they need permission from the UWSA leaders. Pau Yu Chang has absolute decision-making power here. He and other top-ranking UWSA members know exactly where Wei and Bang Ron are staying and what they are doing. They are all protecting them,'' the source reiterated.

However, he couldn't explain why Wei was never arrested in former times, when he travelled frequently throughout Burma, visiting places like Mandalay, Rangoon and Tachilek.

On the subject of drug dealers, Maj-Gen Maung Oo, Burmese minister for home affairs and chairman of the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control, delivered this message from the new capital of Naypyidaw on June 26:

''Thanks to the cooperative efforts of the law enforcement organisations such as the Tatmadaw (military), Myanmar Police Force and the Customs Department of Myanmar and drug control teams in neighbouring Thailand and China, anti-drug activities were met with success. As Myanmar could sign Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with regional countries and sub-regional countries, transnational drug dealers were arrested in Myanmar and it was a remarkable achievement of the drug control efforts of the country.''

Yet as far back as March 2004, one distinguished former Wa leader told Perspective: ''When foreign media or officials ask for the whereabouts of Wei, Bang Ron or any other major drug traffickers, the Burmese and Wa officials will say: 'No, we don't know, they are not in our area.' This is absolutely not true. They know exactly where they are.''

Now, says the source, Wei is more powerful than ever before: ''Since July 2006, when the UWSA appointed him to be in charge of finance, economy and collection of taxes, all trade in the Wa State, both legal and illegal, have been under his control.''

Escaping Thai justice

Wei Hseuh-kang was born in China's Yunnan province on May 29, 1952, and granted Thai citizenship in 1985. He was arrested in Chiang Mai on November 23, 1988, following the seizure of 680 kilogrammes of heroin in southern Thailand the year before which was linked to him. Wei was sentenced to life imprisonment. He appealed the verdict and was granted bail under mysterious circumstances. He then fled to Burma. The Thai court overturned the previous verdict and sentenced him to death on October 24, 1990 in absentia.

After the National Citizenship Committee identified him as a threat to national security, the Interior Ministry revoked his Thai citizenship in July 2001.

Together with seven other ranking UWSA leaders, Wei was indicted by a federal grand jury in Brooklyn, New York, on charges of drug trafficking on January 24, 2005. Among the others indicted were his two brothers, Wei Hseuh-long and Wei Hseuh-ying, and also Pau Yu Chang.

In addition to the charges filed against him on that day, Wei also faces charges in the United States stemming from an indictment filed in 1993 in the Eastern District of New York for conspiring to distribute and import heroin into the US.

He was one of the first individuals designated by the United States in June 2000 as a ''drug kingpin'' pursuant to the 1999 Foreign Narcotic Designation Kingpin Act.

The US Department of State is curently offering a reward of up to $2 million (now about 64 million baht) for information leading to his arrest or conviction in the United States.

A Thai Muslim born in Bangkok in 1959, Bang Ron is Wei's best friend. He managed to escape arrest after some 750,000 methamphetamine pills were uncovered by the police at his home in Bangkok's Nong Chok district in 1998. He reportedly fled to Burma the same year.

Bang Ron tops the list of 110 most wanted Thai drug traffickers recently released by the Narcotic Suppression Bureau in Bangkok. The reward for his arrest is one million baht.

The Thai government has made requests on several occasions to their Burmese counterparts and the UWSA to arrest Wei and Bang Ron and extradite them to Thailand, but to no avail.

For example, in 1998 General Chettha Thanajaro, former Army chief and security adviser to former interior minister Sanan Kachornprasart, attempted to use his influence with the Burmese leadership to seek their help in apprehending Bang Ron.

In January 1999, Sorasit Sangprasert, then deputy secretary-general of the Office of the Narcotic Control Board, said: "Myanmar has agreed to help in the hunt for Surachai following an earlier official request from Thailand's narcotics chiefs."

In August of the same year, Police Lt-Gen Noppadol Somboonsap, then an assistant police chief, asked visiting Lt-Col Sit Aye, deputy director of Burma's Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control, to arrest and return Surachai.

In 2001 the Thai Army twice dispatched two high-ranking officers to Pang Sang to, in addition to other duties, locate both wanted men, arrest them and send to Thailand. A deputy-chairman of the UWSA government, Zaw Mai _ now deceased _ and Bo Lai Kham met with the Thai officers several times and flatly denied any knowledge of the two men.

And this is exactly what Pau Yu Chang told Lt-Gen Picharnmeth Muangmanee, then Third Army Commander, in January 2004 when the lt-gen asked him and several Burmese military officers to have Wei and Surachai arrested.

Multi-level security

Despite all the denials, another UWSA source has just revealed new and more personal information about Wei and Bang Ron, who he said are very close friends. They live, travel and do business together.

''Both live at Pang Poi, a small village located about 20 kilometres southwest of the Wa capital of Pang Sang. They also spend a few days each month at a still unfinished complex near Nar Lod village, situated about three kilometres northeast of the capital,'' the Wa source said.

''Wei Hseuh-long stays often at Nar Lod. It is convenient for him because he has to attend important meetings for senior UWSA leaders in Pang Sang.''

The compounds at Pang Poi and Nar Lod are protected by Wei's own elite security force. Distinctive in their smart Thai-made uniforms, they number about 300 in all.

The source gave a detailed description of Pang Poi, which he said is under especially tight protection, similar to what might be given a head of state. A checkpoint is set up on the road a few kilometres before the village, manned by armed personnel. A second checkpoint is situated at the gate to the compound. A contingent of about 150 well-trained security personnel, armed with an array of sophisticated weaponry and equipment, including portable surface-to-air-missiles and night-vision devices, patrol the base and surrounding areas day and night.

A total of 220 people live in the compound that consists of four buildings made of stone and concrete and three huts. The main two-storey building is an office with lodging for officers and other staff. Three one-storey buildings accommodate security personnel. One of these is a training centre. There is also a car park.

The most vital and ''off-limits'' section of the base is a five-metre-deep concrete bunker which has five rooms. One room is occupied by Wei, one by his older brother Wei Hseuh-long and one by Bang Ron. Another room is an office and the last, located in another section, is a ya ba (methamphetamine) factory where the pills are stored as well.

The source said three of the rooms are three by three metres and two are six by six metres. Each room in the bunker has a toilet. The furnishings are rather ordinary, including beds, tables, chairs, cabinets, cooking facilities and refrigerators.

Several surface-to-air missiles are stored in the bunker along with other weapons such as M-16 assault rifles, US-made shotguns, ammunitions and night-vision devices.

Wei and Bang Ron maintain contact with the outside world with mobile, satellite and land phones.

One of the security measures is a tunnel around the bunker, about two metres deep, made as an escape route in case of emergency. It connects the three living quarters and the ya ba factory.

''If you look from the air, you will see only vegetables being grown above the bunker,'' said the source, adding: ''Wei is secretive, security conscious and constantly on alert. He is aware that many people want to have him arrested or dead. He follows all the news and information about him and anything related to drugs in the region. He even cooks his own food to prevent being poisoned. No one dares to photograph him, which may explain why the same old two mugshots appear repeatedly in the media.

''He feels relatively safe in Pang Poi but is worried about being attacked from the air. That's why he bought the 10 anti-aircraft missiles, reportedly costing him 200,000 yuan (around one million baht) each.''

According to the source, Wei is good looking and in good health, but has lost some weight lately. He is usually attired in a long-sleeve shirt with trousers and wears a bullet-proof vest. He can speak Burmese, Chinese, Shan and Thai, but no English.

He stays awake all night and goes to sleep at sunrise. He normally watches satellite TV, plays DVDs and reads books, rarely venturing outside the bunker. He