Nearly $300 million worth of confiscated drugs were destroyed in Myanmar today to mark the annual International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, officials said today.
The drugs destroyed included opium, heroin, methamphetamine, marijuana, ketamine and crystal meth, police said.
Myanmar has long been a major source of illegal drugs, despite multiple efforts to crack down on it.
In 2023, the United Nations designated Myanmar as the world's largest producer of opium.
Police said substances worth US$297,95 million were burned at three locations.
Myanmar is part of the notorious Golden Triangle, where the borders of that country, Laos and Thailand meet. Opium and heroin production is booming there, largely due to lawlessness in the border areas where the central government of Myanmar has only minimal control.
The United Nations (UN) Office on Drugs and Crime said in a May report that the political crisis across the country following a military takeover in 2021, which led to civil war, has accelerated the growth of methamphetamine trafficking.
This has led to a sharp increase in the flow of drugs "not only across East and Southeast Asia, but increasingly into South Asia, particularly northeast India," the report said.
Drugs are increasingly being smuggled from Myanmar to Cambodia, mainly via Laos, as well as via sea routes connecting Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, with Sabah in Malaysia serving as a key transit hub.
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