Rice Cartel In Myanmar, 11 People Including Supermarket Aeon Orange Boss Arrested

UNSPLASH/Peter Bond ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - Myanmar authorities arrested four supermarket chain bosses, including a Japanese joint venture official, for selling rice at soaring prices.

The poor nation in Southeast Asia has been in turmoil since its military toppled the elected civilian government in February 2021, which sparked widespread protests that turned into national-scale armed resistance.

Authorities said they arrested 11 people, including rice traders and factory bosses and retailers, on charges of raising prices by 31 percent to 70 percent from the specified levels, the Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper said.

In Tokyo, Japan's chief cabinet secretary, Yoshimasa Hayashi, said police in Myanmar's capital, Yangon, were questioning a Japanese national.

"The Japanese government intends to continue to take appropriate steps while urging the local government to release him early," he told reporters.

These efforts include maintaining contact with Japanese citizens and offering the necessary support.

The junta-run Myanmar newspaper said an executive from the Aeon Orange supermarket chain, a joint venture between Japan's Aeon Co and Yangon-based Myanmar Creation, was among those arrested.

A Aeon spokesman told Reuters an employee of the company was detained in Myanmar. It is working with the Japanese embassy to get more details.

The owner of a rice mill in Myanmar said that many businesses in this sector are experiencing difficulties due to discrepancies between the official foreign currency exchange rate and the illegal market price that regulates most transactions, such as purchasing fuel and imported fertilizers.

"It is a loss for us if we sell rice at a government standard price," he said.

Myanmar still has a lot of rice. This situation occurs because the government wants to limit prices," he added refusing to mention identities.