Myanmar business tycoon, Malaysian tried on drug-trafficking charges

Jul 10, 2008, 6:20 GMT

Yangon - A Myanmar billionaire business tycoon and a Malaysian national are standing trial on drug-trafficking charges and face lengthy prison terms if found guilty, media reports said Thursday.

Maung Weik, 35, the managing director of Maung Weik and Family Co Ltd, which is involved in trading and real estate, was arrested May 31 on charges of trafficking in ecstasy, amphetamines and ketamine that were distributed at company parties and birthday celebrations, the Myanmar Times' Burmese-language edition reported.

Malaysian national Peter Too Huat Haw was also arrested and is standing trial along with five other Myanmar nationals - Aung Min, Nay Tun Lwin, Kyaw Phone Naing, Kyaw Hlaing and Kyaw Kyaw Win - for engaging in drug trafficking, reported the newspaper, which is privately owned but censored by the government.

The trial of Maung Weik, who like most successful Myanmar businessmen has close ties with the military junta, started June 10, police said.

If found guilty, he faces a 20-year jail sentence, lawyers said.

Maung Weik was known to be close friends with Aung Zaw Ye Myint, the son of retired lieutenant general Ye Myint, who was recently asked to retire by junta supremo Senior General Than Shwe.

Aung Zaw Ye Myint is reportedly undergoing drug rehabilitation.

There was speculation that Than Shwe launched the investigation into Maung Weik's drug dealing after his 17-year-old grandson Nay Shwe Thway Aung was found to be using drugs, said the Mizzima News, a news organization established by exiled Myanmar journalists.

Drug addiction is rife in Myanmar, once one of the world's main suppliers of opium and its refined derivative heroin. Although Myanmar's opium production has fallen over the past decade, the country is now a major producer of methamphetamines.