posted June 28, 2000 10:30 AM            

Diplomatic officials have put together a new profile of Sri Lanka's separatist movement, the Tamil Tigers. It reveals hard evidence that the group is a terrorist organisation, but also paints the movement as a major player in international drug trafficking.

This new view of the group known officially as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or LTTE, is likely to influence the international view of the Tamil Tigers.

Once tolerated and supported as the voice of a repressed Sri Lankan minority, Tamil Tigers have recently come under scrutiny. They face tough new sanctions and will find it more difficult to use the many foreign bases they have established, usually in Tamil communities abroad.

The United States stunned the Tamils and many of its supporters earlier this month when it officially declared the group a terrorist organisation. As a result, the LTTE is barred under tough laws from raising money or spreading propaganda inside the US.

In fact, the US move come after at least three years of debate in the international community over the legitimacy of the LTTE. Various international terrorist reports had mentioned the Tamil Tigers since 1994, mainly because of truck bombs the group has used inside Colombo. Last year a single bomb killed 90 people.

But, the confirmation that the LTTE is deeply involved in massive drug trafficking has surfaced more recently.

A Diplomatic involved in a recent study of the Tamil Tigers said the evidence is overwhelming and clear. "The LTTE is directly involved with the Burmese regime in making and distributing heroin" said the source.

The investigation uncovered direct proof of close collaboration between Burma and the Tamil Tigers. LTTE forces are allowed to train at military bases in Southern Burma. In return they supply couriers for the world wide smuggling of Burma produced heroin.

In recent months, says a confidential report, Tamil drug smugglers with links to the Tamil Tigers have been arrested in Sri Lanka, India, Australia, Britain, France, Germany, Switzerland, the United States and Canada.

Tamil couriers have been caught in some cases with forged or stolen passports. In one drug arrest, German police uncovered a collection of tools and stamps to make forged Passports.

The Tigers exploit - with money, threats or ideology - overseas Tamil communities, who have contributed to the heroin smuggling. French and Australian police reported to the diplomatic inquiry that they have uncovered links between local gangs and Tamil Tigers.

Last November, Indian Authorities seized $ 71 million worth of drugs when they broke up a trafficking ring in southern Tamil Nadu state, home of most of India's Tamil minority. Tamil Tiger militants and sympathisers both find sanctuary in the Indian state despite government efforts to root them out.

Diplomats have concluded the Tamil Tigers independence fight has now become overshadowed by its outside businesses, first and foremost, drugs.

The northern Sri Lankan port of Jaffna and a large pirate fleet maintained by the LTTE armed forces play a minor role in the anti-Colombo war. But they play a major part in the Tigers drug dealing.

Similarly , Tamil Tiger troops who have trained near Manipur, in northern India, no longer are a major part of the Sri Lankan resistance. Instead, they have joined forces with Burmese heroin traffickers in the Manipur area.

The Tigers provide security for Burmese drug caravans from the western Golden Triangle into India. Several thousand Manipur residents recently demonstrated against the drug traffickers, closing the Burmese border for two days in protest.

"The Tamil drug smuggling network has become an integral part of Burmese drug trafficking around the world" said a Bangkok based anti-narcotics officer. " The Tigers are not just profiting from drugs, they've made narcotics their chief battle - more important than the war in Sri Lanka."

Diplomats compared the current Tamil Tigers to Burma's former independence groups among the Shan. "The Thai Yai once were fighting for independence from Rangoon, but they got completely involved in drug smuggling and building their huge profits" said a diplomat in Bangkok.

There is much that still is unknown about the Tamil Tigers, but it appears the group is also falling off its principles of fighting for the Tamil minority in Sri Lanka. As more of its narcotics deals are confirmed, it is likely to lose most of the international support it once had.