Watchdogs call for investigation into ties between Myanmar arms broker and junta leader

Watchdog groups are calling for an investigation into the relationship between an arrested Burmese businessman in Thailand and Myanmar’s junta leader. The campaign group Justice for Myanmar, and other similar groups, are calling for a probe into their ties and to block their access to Thailand’s financial system.

The calls come after arms broker Tun Min Latt, 53, and three of his associates were arrested in morning raids on September 17, 2022, in Bangkok. On December 13, 2022, they were indicted on drug trafficking, money laundering and transnational crime charges.

During the raid, police say they seized around US$50 million worth of assets including cash, luxury goods, and real estate. Some of the items seized included bankbooks and property titles that belonged to Myanmar junta leader Min Aung Hlaing’s daughter and son.

The raid revealed new information about the ties between the arms dealer and the Myanmar junta leader, with watchdog groups calling for the Thai police to investigate.

A Justice for Myanmar activist says the recent discovery points to the junta leader’s family hiding assets in Thailand. The unnamed activist told Radio Free Asia that the Thai government should “take urgent action to prevent it from becoming a safe haven for Myanmar war criminals by blocking the illegitimate Myanmar junta and its members from accessing Thai banks and property and freezing alleged stolen assets from the Myanmar people.”

Yadanar Muang, another Justice for Myanmar spokesperson, told RFA Burmese that the arrests exposed for the first time that “members of Min Aung Hlaing’s family are hiding assets in Thailand, enabled by an alleged drug trafficker and money launderer.”

Other members of the group say junta family members are hiding assets offshore that they’ve acquired through the military’s “genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

Min Lwin Oo, a Burmese human rights lawyer, who is based in Norway, expressed concern about Thailand investigating the Myanmar junta.

“I worry that the case could be delayed or lengthy, as the current Thai government and Min Aung Hlaing have a very warm and cosy relationship.”

According to The Japan Times, Tun Min Latt has interests in energy, mining, and hotels and is reportedly a close associate of Min Aung Hlaing, the junta chief. Two anonymous sources also say that he procured supplies for the Myanmar military, while public photos show the two together at an arms fair back in 2019.

Now, Tun Min Latt is in pre-trial detention but the two sources say Thai authorities did not consider the junta chief’s family assets relevant in the case against Tun Min Latt.

Thailand isn’t the only one after the junta leader as the US and Canada have reportedly sanctioned his son and daughter. The two countries claim that his offspring had businesses that “directly benefitted from their father’s position and malign influence.”