A Fabricated Story on the Daily Star: How Mohammad Jamil Khan Villainized Arakan Army on Drug Questions

News Analysis ၊ August 3, 2026

Accusations without evidence are not analysis; they are propaganda. Mohammad Jamil Khan’s recent series on the drug trade between Myanmar and Bangladesh fails this basic test. His narrative conveniently pins the entire crisis on one actor—the Arakan Army—while ignoring the elephant in the room: the Myanmar military and others. This is not a slip; it is a deliberate distortion.

Let us dissect his claims. First, he alleges that the AA uses drugs to pay for smuggled Bangladeshi goods. Yet, he offers no named officials, no verifiable sources, and no hard data. This is hearsay dressed as journalism. If you cannot name your source, you are not reporting; you are rumour-mongering. Such flimsy grounds are unacceptable when smearing a group that fights a brutal dictatorship and enjoys deep local support.

Second, his geography is laughable—or conveniently blind. He points to routes starting in Ayeyarwady and Yangon, then passing through Minbya, Ann, and Rathedaung. Does he not know who controls those starting points? The Myanmar junta holds Ayeyarwady and the sea routes from Yangon. The junta has also blocked all overland trade—even medicine—into AA-controlled areas. So how can drugs flow from junta-held ports into AA zones? Even the BGB chief recently admitted that 80 percent of drugs enter Bangladesh via sea routes controlled by the junta navy. Khan conveniently omits this. Why?

Third, he claims drug flows increased after the AA took border stretches. This is historically laughable. The yaba trade flourished long before 2015, when the AA arrived. If anything, AA control has reduced land-based trafficking—pushing the trade to sea, where the junta and Bangladeshi navies operate. Some border guards, who once profited handsomely from the old routes, now have reason to resent the AA. Remember Dil Mohammed, the well-known trafficker with ties to both Myanmar and Bangladeshi border forces? Khan forgets such names because they do not fit his script.

In short, his piece is flawed on three counts. One: no evidence, only accusations. Two: total silence on the junta’s naval routes and its corrupt allies from Shan to Yangon. Three: zero mention of how Bangladeshi border and coast guard officials—and (Rohingya) Muslim drug dealers—enable the flow inland. Such massive volumes cannot cross without insider complicity at high levels.

This is not serious analysis. It is a hit job—irresponsible, one-sided, and designed to defame the AA while shielding the real powers behind the drug boom. Readers deserve facts, not fabricated stories with hidden agendas.