Junta Deputy Commander Calls for Integrity, but Reality Tells a Different Story

Burma News International (BNI) is a network of 15 independent media and news organizations based in and around Burma Although the junta’s deputy commander-in-chief has called on military officers leading battalions and brigades to avoid misconduct and uphold integrity, the reality on the ground is starkly different, according to Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) participants and residents. On September 4, during a meeting with officers at the Army’s Defense Services Headquarters compound in Naypyitaw, junta Deputy Commander-in-Chief General Kyaw Swar Lin stressed the importance of integrity and ethical conduct. In his speech, he urged officers to set an example by adhering strictly to military discipline and warning against illicit drugs, corruption, sexual misconduct, and online gambling. In practice, however, systemic corruption reportedly permeates every level of the Myanmar military. Captain Zin Yaw, a former military officer who joined the CDM, noted that some senior officers accumulated wealth through illegal drug trafficking early in their careers as second lieutenants before rising to high-ranking positions at headquarters. Consequently, leadership is fully aware of illicit activities by lower-level officers. “The junta’s unwritten rule is that wrongdoing isn’t considered a crime unless you get caught,” Captain Zin Yaw said. “Even when someone is exposed, senior officers usually shield those close to them. The system doesn't deter misconduct—it simply encourages personnel to do it covertly.” Illicit trade, drug trafficking, and online gambling operations currently thrive across major cities. Meanwhile, junta checkpoints along the Thai-Myanmar border systematically extort money from merchants under the guise of enforcing trade regulations. A local political analyst emphasized that junta officials and soldiers—from border security commanders to rank-and-file personnel—are deeply entangled in corruption networks, as cyber-scam hubs, human organ trafficking, and drug rings rely directly on military protection and kickbacks. “None of them, from high-level border officers to frontline soldiers, are clean,” the analyst said. “Virtually all illegal operations function through direct ties to junta authorities. The military regime is the central hub and primary perpetrator of these criminal networks.” Residents also report that rank-and-file soldiers, heavily addicted to online gambling, routinely extort money and confiscate civilian property under pretenses. “Soldiers at the bottom level are addicted to online gambling,” a border resident told Than Lwin Times. “They accuse civilians of carrying illegal goods, seize the items, and then erase them from official records. Ordinary people bear the brunt of this unchecked corruption.” Furthermore, junta troops have reportedly been selling goods confiscated during raids on telecom scam centers along the Thai border at steep discounts and dividing the proceeds among themselves—a practice senior administrative officials are fully aware of but willfully ignore.