The junta has assigned drug addicts it has arrested to guard the entry gate to Loilem Town in southern Shan State.

The junta had previously arrested the drug addicts in Loilem Town and Loilem Township before assigning them to guard the town gate, according to residents of Loilem Town.

They believe that the junta is conscripting drug addicts into the army because it cannot find enough suitable (non drug-addicted) conscripts in the region.

One Loilem Town resident said to Shan Herald: “Almost no one is left to be conscripted for military service, so the junta has arrested drug addicts and forcibly transformed them into soldiers. The drug addicts, once seen around the town, are now in uniforms, armed, and guarding the town's entrance gate.”

Residents of Loilem Town fear that if the junta arms drug addicts they will extort additional money from vehicles and pedestrians passing through the town gate, to fund their drug habits.

The number of drug addicts in Loilem Town is on the rise and thefts and robberies in the town have become widespread.

The junta has put pressure on village heads in Loilem Township to supply it with conscripts, but they have been unable to do so which has led to these increasingly desperate measures by the junta to find conscripts.

An administrator of a village in Loilem Township said: “In our village, there are hardly any young people left. Those conscripted in earlier batches were sent far away to Tanintharyi Region, and the whereabouts of some are unknown, as well as whether they are still alive.”

He also advised members of the public to remain cautious as they go about their daily lives and when they travel.