Burma: opium and heroin

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Sub-title: Myanmar’s post-coup chaos has been a boon for those involved in the illicit drug trade, including the military regime itself
Description: "There will likely be few public celebrations of World Drug Day today in northern Shan state, home to one of the world’s most rampant and lucrative narcotics production zones. But there may be some smug satisfaction expressed among the region’s assorted gangsters and others cashing in on the post-coup disorder in Myanmar. This year’s theme for the United Nations International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking is “People first: stop stigma and discrimination, strengthen prevention.” Myanmar’s coup-installed military regime, the State Administration Council (SAC), and the Myanmar Police Force (MFP) revel in these opportunities to promote their domestic drug suppression efforts and exaggerate their commitment to international cooperation. In a post-truth Myanmar, the promotion of fallacious seizure statistics has been the methodology for years to fool the world into believing central authorities are serious about drug eradication. The Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC) of the Ministry of Home Affairs claims that since the February 2021 coup d’etat, seizures of narcotics including opium, heroin, stimulant tablets (ya ba), crystal methamphetamine, marijuana, kratom and kratom powder have all increased. The regime claims it nabbed US$462 million worth of narcotics in 2021; $533 million in 2022; and $179.53 million up until end of May this year. These are exacting figures: in 2021, the security forces claimed to have seized 198,188,715.5 ya ba tablets, precise right down to the half of a pill. But exactly what is the scale of drug production in Myanmar? The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimates that opium cultivation has increased 33% in its 2022 Opium Survey, with an alarming increase in potential yield of 88%, potentially producing 790 metric tonnes. Whilst the obvious conclusion is post-coup uncertainty and insecurity driving expanded cultivation, these upward trends may have preceded the coup. UNODC regional director Jeremy Douglas claimed at the launch of the survey in January that “the Golden Triangle is back in the opium business.” The borderlands of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand have never been out of the drug business. Crystal methamphetamine production has surged over the past decade to an estimated $50-60 billion. From unreliable but indicative seizures data, East and Southeast Asia seizures in 2011 amounted to 20,000 kilograms, reached a record of 172,000 kgs in 2021 and fell to 151,000 in 2022. Yet the price for methamphetamines has reduced across the region despite the higher seizures. The UNODC and many international states and actors are stuck on the manta that that is all mostly the fault of transnational criminal organizations partnering with armed groups opposed to central authority in Myanmar. This is accurate and has been for decades. But it omits key partners in the drug consortiums: the Myanmar military and police. The 2023 UNODC survey did note that; “A small number of methamphetamine laboratories have been detected in drug-producing regions under the regime’s control. However, there is a sizable discrepancy between Myanmar’s seized methamphetamine laboratories and the total supply of methamphetamine, with the only laboratories seized by Myanmar authorities between 2022 and early 2023 being smaller tableting operations in South Shan, near the Thai border, which does not reflect the reality of the market.” The drug trade in Myanmar thrives because of the complex network of security arrangements between the Myanmar military, its local militia allies, ethnic armed organizations (EAOs), the hosting of transnational criminal actors and an entrenched culture of corruption and entwined criminal industries. The post-coup descent into internecine chaos and increased illegality is simply a contemporary chapter of decades-long dynamics that have made domestic production unproblematic. But exactly how much is being done to stem drug production and how much is the international community cooperating with this charade? In Myanmar, access to drugs has surged since the coup, with police seemingly spending more time on extortion rackets than genuine drug suppression. Drugs are reportedly openly offered and consumed at karaoke joints (KTV) throughout major cities. The powerful drug ketamine is supposedly readily available, but to what extent is hard to measure. The SAC Minister of Home Affairs who has the CCDAC in his portfolio, the army Lieutenant-General Soe Htut marked this year’s World Drug Day with a statement pledging to be more people-oriented. “Reviewing the current drug problem, law enforcement and judiciary measures could not separately solve the problem. A balanced approach also requires a focus on public health care, improving living standards, promoting humanity, supporting development, and protecting basic human rights. Instead of punishing drug addicts as criminals, the government and civil society organizations have worked together to amend laws and regulations to promote drug addiction as a health issue rather than a crime.” Yet that has been the main deficiency of Myanmar official approaches for many years, giving syndicates almost free rein to establish production zones while cracking down on small-scale producers and punishing drug users with long prison terms. The 2018 National Drug Policy is actually an effective approach to the challenges of drug use, but has not been in line with repressive drug laws first drafted in the early 1990s under a previous military junta. Nevertheless, Soe Htut claimed the SAC is instructing regional and state authorities to “draft action plans consistent with their localities to implement drug control activities in a practical manner.” Given the general breakdown in law and order across Myanmar, drug suppression will either be an extremely low priority or else officials will use it as an extra feature of control to combat armed and non-violent resistance. World Drug Day also provides a platform for the military to signal its cooperation with the United Nations, the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), regional law enforcement bodies such as the Australian Federal Police (AFP), the American Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), and the Thai Office of Narcotics Control Board (ONCB). Much of this cooperation hums along in a depoliticized environment of professional niceties, never mentioning that some of the worst offenders in protecting the drug trade that floods the region with crystal methamphetamine are Myanmar security officers who have a long and sordid lineage of double standards. Nevertheless, regional partnerships are a necessary fiction. ASEAN’s Narcotics Cooperation Center’s (with the delightful acronym of ASEAN-NARCO) “Golden Triangle 1511 Operation” involves China, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand and has been cooperating since 2019 on intelligence-sharing on drug precursor flows and drug shipments. Yet taken over a longer time frame, it’s evident that Myanmar gains some measure of legitimacy for regional cooperation while not having to do much to crack down on production zones in Shan state. It’s one of the Myanmar regime’s diplomatic “bait and switch” tactics, in which it crows over joint drug suppression efforts while rebuffing ASEAN’s Five Point Consensus to address its political crisis. The Australian Federal Police continues to liaise with the MPF on drug trade intelligence-sharing. In Senate Estimates hearings in November of 2022, AFP Deputy Commissioner Ian McCartney told the committee:“There has been engagement with Myanmar police, not in relation to training and capacity-building, but in relation to matters of interest to the AFP, particularly in relation to drug trafficking. In terms of context, 70% of the methamphetamine that ends up in the streets of Australia comes from Myanmar. So there has been some engagement. It’s been restricted. It’s been under the auspices of an agreement that we’ve entered into with DFAT (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) to ensure that whatever engagement is strictly restricted to those issues.” In the decade spanning 2012 to 2022, Australia seized 9.9 million tons of crystal methamphetamine, most of it sourced from Myanmar’s Shan state. Taking stock of the production timelines and the surge in output over the past decade, it’s obvious that the Myanmar drug trade grew during the decade of conditional civilian government, when the world was supporting a so-called “democratic transition.” Given the current post-coup disorder, what hope is there that regional cooperation will have any positive effect? And how much is international assistance, even intelligence-sharing, assisting the SAC with domestic control while it maintains complex relations with multiple armed and illicit actors involved in the narcotics trade? As Christopher Hitchens once remarked of the American “war on drugs,” “this isn’t a war, it’s a misuse of the word, it’s an apparatus of control.” Any credible or humanistic drug reform from the SAC is highly unlikely, condemning another generation of Myanmar people to cheap and easily available drugs with few harm reduction programs and continued punitive sentencing approaches..."
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Source/publisher: "Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
2023-06-26
Date of entry/update: 2023-06-26
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Description: "Key Takeaways: 2022 survey results point towards increased sophistication of farming practices and concentration of opium poppy cultivation Typically, most of the opium poppy cultivation detected in Myanmar in the past was small, poorly organized plots with relatively low cultivation density when compared to most other licit cash crops. Fields were often found outside of main agricultural areas, away from villages and roads. However, the evidence collected in 2022 points towards increasing sophistication in poppy cultivation practices. Newly sampled areas reveal greater opium poppy cultivation in high-density poppy cultivation hotspots. A general increase in poppy cultivation in some regions of the country is also evident with opium poppy fields becoming larger. In Shan State, field size increased by more than 30% compared to 2021 (from about 0.3 to 0.4 hectares on average). Additionally, field research observed very well organized and high yielding opium poppy plots that had not been identified before. This was most evident in East Shan where substantial and significant increases in both opium poppy capsule number and volume were observed (the average number of observed capsules per plot increased by 44% and their average volume more than doubled). This translated into higher overall yields. National yield estimates indicated an average of 19.8 kg of opium per hectare of poppy; levels that, while far below potential productivity in opium gum, are at the highest-ever estimated in Myanmar since UNODC started measuring. In the first full season opium survey after the military takeover, poppy cultivation is estimated to have increased by 33% compared to the previous season In 2022, the area under opium poppy cultivation in Myanmar was estimated at 40,100 (29,000 to 62,900) hectares. This estimate is 33% greater, or about 10,000 more hectares than in 2021, reversing the downward trend that started in 2014. The increase was recorded against the backdrop of significant social, economic, security and governance disruptions in the course of 2021. The increased estimate was likely due to two main factors: 1) increased size of fields; and 2) the detection of opium poppy hotspots. Together this translated into a higher overall area estimates under opium poppy cultivation. Furthermore eradication efforts appeared to have decreased substantially: 1,403 hectares were reported as eradicated in 2022, 70% less than in 2021..."
Source/publisher: UN Office on Drugs and Crime (Vienna) via Reliefweb (New York)
2023-01-26
Date of entry/update: 2023-01-26
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Sub-title: The production of opium increased sharply in Myanmar after falling for seven years, according to the UN.
Description: "It touched nearly 795 metric tonnes in 2022, nearly double the production in 2021 - 423 metric tonnes - the year of the military coup. The UN believes this is driven by economic hardship and insecurity, along with higher global prices for the opium resin that is used to make heroin. The coup plunged much of Myanmar into a bloody civil war that still continues. "Economic, security and governance disruptions that followed the military takeover of February 2021 have converged, and farmers in remote, often conflict-prone areas in northern Shan and border states, have had little option but to move back to opium," said Jeremy Douglas, the regional representative for the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Its report, which was released on Thursday, said Myanmar's economy was confronted by external and domestic shocks in 2022 - such as the Russia-Ukraine war, continued political instability and soaring inflation - which provide "strong incentives" for farmers to take up or expand opium poppy cultivation. Myanmar is the world's second-largest producer of opium, after Afghanistan. The two countries are the source of most of the heroin sold around the world. Myanmar's opium economy is valued at up to $2bn (£1.6bn), based on UN estimates, while the regional heroin trade is valued at approximately $10bn. But over the past decade crop substitution projects and improving economic opportunities in Myanmar have led to a steady fall in cultivation of the opium poppy. The annual opium survey conducted by the UN, however, shows that production in Myanmar has risen again. Opium production in 2022 has been the highest since 2013, when the figure stood at 870 metric tonnes. Since the coup the UN has also monitored even larger increases in synthetic drug production. In recent years, this has supplanted opium as the source of funding for armed groups operating in the war-torn border areas of Myanmar. However, opium requires a lot more labour than synthetic drugs, making it an attractive cash crop in a country where the post-coup economic crisis has dried up many alternative sources of employment. Opium farmers' earnings grew last year to $280/kg, a sign of the attractiveness of opium as a crop and commodity, as well as strong demand. It's a key source of many narcotics, such as heroin, morphine and codeine. Opium poppy cultivation areas in 2022 rose by a third to 40,100 hectares, according to the report, which also pointed to increasingly sophisticated farming practices. Average opium yields have also risen to the highest value since the UNODC started tracking the metric in 2002. The region, where the borders of Myanmar, Thailand, and Laos meet - the so-called "Golden Triangle" - has historically been a major source of opium and heroin production. Global firms fuelling Myanmar's killer weapons Who are the rulers who executed Myanmar activists? Mr Douglas said Myanmar's neighbours should assess and address the situation: "They will need to consider some difficult options." He added that these solutions should account for the challenges people in traditional opium-cultivating areas face, including isolation and conflict. "At the end of the day, opium cultivation is really about economics, and it cannot be resolved by destroying crops which only escalates vulnerabilities," said Benedikt Hofmann, UNODC's country manager for Myanmar. He added: "Without alternatives and economic stability, it is likely that opium cultivation and production will continue to expand."..."
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Source/publisher: "BBC News" (London)
2023-01-26
Date of entry/update: 2023-01-26
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Description: "What’s the role and position of women in opium cultivation areas in Myanmar? What is life like for women who use drugs in Myanmar? This primer maps out the gendered dynamics of drug policy in Myanmar, drawing from on-the-ground conversations with women involved in the drugs market. When it comes to drugs and related policies, women and their experiences are often rendered invisible, or presented merely as an afterthought even though in many cases women tend to face harsher effects of punitive policies. This primer emphasises the need for a rights-based approach for these specific populations of women – women using drugs, women dealing drugs or couriering (sometimes to support personal use), and women engaging in the drugs market through opium cultivation. But women’s positions are not limited to being the receiving end of repressive policies and practices. In most contexts, despite their lack of visibility, women play a wide variety of active roles within the drugs market, and more importantly within their families and communities, as we will show in this primer. Having said that, there is clearly a need to situate (drug) policy discussions within a broader look at women’s roles in leadership and decision-making processes, as opposed to only spelling out the impacts of drug policy and drug markets on women in Myanmar. This primer aims to map out the gendered dynamics of drug policy in Myanmar, drawing from on-the-ground conversations (conducted between 2018 and 2021) with women who use drugs, women who grow opium, as well as women engaging in sex work and/or involved in the drugs market. These women must work to survive both in rural and urban areas. They come from various age groups (between 19 and 72 at the time of interviews) and ethnic backgrounds, residing in different areas in (Southern) Shan State, Kachin State, and Mon State..."
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Source/publisher: Transnational Institute ( Amsterdam)
2022-03-07
Date of entry/update: 2022-03-07
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Description: "A recent string of drug busts in Southeast Asia — 55 million methamphetamine pills and 1.5 tonnes of crystal meth in Laos in October, and this year at least a billion pills, 6 tonnes of heroin and 4.4 tonnes of crystal meth — have led some international agencies to conclude that the production of illicit narcotics in the region is booming. The reason, Jeremy Douglas from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Bangkok told Reuters as far back as Oct. 28, is “the breakdown” of “security and governance” in Myanmar’s Shan State following the coup a year ago. Then, on Dec. 12, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation quoted Douglas as saying that “right now, the [Myanmar] police are fighting an insurgency or dealing with ethnic unrest, so they have other issues on their mind, and there is free space for others [drug smugglers] to do their business.” More recently, on Feb. 1, Douglas told Reuters: “Meth production increased last year from already extreme levels in northern Myanmar and there is no sign it will slow down.” Critics, however, see the problem in a completely different light. Apart from being disconcerted by Douglas’ offensive choice of words — “other issues on their mind” can only be interpreted as a reference to the police gunning down peaceful demonstrators — they are pointing out that there can be many reasons for the increase in drug busts, and that it does not necessarily mean that production is skyrocketing. The Transnational Institute (TNI), a Netherlands-based research and advocacy organization, stated in a report published in December: “Sweeping assertions that Myanmar has become one of the world’s largest ATS [Amphetamine-Type Stimulants] producers — if not the largest — and reports about sudden huge increases in production should…be treated with great caution. It is important to note that increases in seizures could be because of other reasons, and these do not automatically mean that there is an increased equivalent in production.” An obvious reason in today’s context would be that the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted border security forces in, for instance, Thailand and Laos, to step up surveillance of all movements across their respective borders. Another could be that new couriers have been recruited, and they are taking risks that more experienced smugglers would not. Or there is no particular reason. The number of seizures and the amounts of drugs confiscated always fluctuate regardless of the level of production. The TNI also points out that the production of ATS, among them methamphetamine, or ya ba (“madness medicine”), is entirely dependent on the availability of chemicals that have been diverted from legal markets, and does not require the cultivation of specific crops like the opium poppy (from which heroin can be made), which can be monitored via satellite imagery and field surveys. The ease with which ATS production can be concealed, therefore, makes production estimates extremely unreliable. A source familiar with the Golden Triangle drug trade stated quite bluntly in an interview with The Irrawaddy: “All those claims about large increases are based only on information gathered from police reports about seizures, and not on any real on-the-ground research.” The claim that Myanmar’s police resources have been diverted from drug suppression to performing “other issues” is equally problematic. In fact, there have been no credible reports of police units being sent away from the Golden Triangle to contain unrest in other parts of the country. Reflecting the same point of view as Douglas, Richard Horsey, Myanmar adviser to the International Crisis Group, told the Financial Times in an article published on Aug. 22: “What the [Feb. 1] coup has done is completely distract the police from anti-drug activities” and “created a perfect storm for these criminal organizations, who thrive in the gaps where justice authorities can’t easily get.” That, in turn, would mean that the same “justice authorities” that are now meting out stiff sentences, including the death penalty, to pro-democracy activists would otherwise be going after drug traffickers. The critics point out that similar misrepresentations of developments in the region’s drug production were made after the massive 1988 pro-democracy uprising. When Myanmar’s production of opium and its derivative heroin reached record levels in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Daniel O’Donahue, a former US ambassador to Thailand and Myanmar, said in an interview published in the July 14, 1989 issue of the Bangkok Post that “many Burma [Myanmar] Army troops, previously dedicated to anti-narcotics operations, were withdrawn from the field and redeployed to enforce martial law.” In reality, the forces that were used to quell the demonstrations in 1988 and then to hunt down pro-democracy activists in hiding came mainly from the 22nd and 44th Light Infantry Divisions from Karen State, where no poppies were grown. The problem with the UNODC, critics say, is that the organization has no choice but to cooperate with often corrupt authorities in countries where it operates and, therefore, has a long history of turning a blind eye to official complicity in the drug trade. In 2019, the UNODC released a report claiming that “the highest density of poppy cultivation took place [the year before] in areas under the control of…the Kachin Independence Army (KIA),” referring to an ethnic armed organization active in Kachin State. The KIA’s political wing, the Kachin Independence Organization, was the first to respond to the report, pointing out in a statement in March 2019 that even the UNODC’s own map in the report showed the state’s poppy cultivation was not in rebel-held areas, but rather where government-recognized militias and Border Guard Forces allied with the Myanmar military hold sway. On March 5, 2019, the TNI issued a statement saying “passing the blame for the drugs problems in Myanmar – in this case opium cultivation – has long been practised by different local and international actors. Such accusations serve as a distraction, ignore realties in the field, and allow high levels of corruption and a multi-million dollar drug trade to flourish in the region.” The UNODC actually has a long history of covering up official complicity in the drug trade and blaming it on Myanmar’s ethnic armed organizations. While referring to information provided by the UNODC, Reuters stated in its Feb. 1 report that drug production in the Golden Triangle is “run by Asian crime gangs in partnership with armed factions from some of Myanmar’s ethnic minorities” — and then not a word about the real culprits, the Myanmar military’s local, armed allies which are responsible for most of the Golden Triangle drug trade. Other misinterpretations of the Golden Triangle drug trade came in 2019, when the UNODC and some Western anti-narcotics officials claimed that the region had a new “kingpin”. His name was Tse Chi Lop, a Chinese-born Canadian citizen also known as Sam Gor, or Brother No. 3 in Cantonese, who was reputedly the leader of a gang that then controlled most of the region’s illegal and wide-reaching methamphetamine trade. In October 2019, Reuters published an in-depth investigation exposing Tse’s new “Asian meth syndicate”, which according to the report controls the bulk of the region’s rampant trade in the narcotic. The Reuters report referred to him as “Asia’s most-wanted man” who runs a “vast multinational drug trafficking syndicate” in alliance with “five of Asia’s triad groups.” The UNODC, the report said, estimated Tse’s syndicate’s 2018 revenues at US$8-17.7 billion, with Asian sales reaching from Japan to New Zealand. In the report, Douglas was quoted as saying: “Tse Chi Lop is in the league of El Chapo or maybe Pablo Escobar. The word kingpin often gets thrown around, but there is no doubt it applies here.” Other, more knowledgeable seasoned observers took issue with the Hollywood-like portrayal of Asia’s drug trade, which they argued is instead run by loosely and informally organized networks and not by an overarching, all-powerful “kingpin.” Ko-lin Chin and Sheldon X. Zhang, two of America’s most accomplished criminologists, have shown in seminal books like “The Chinese Heroin Trade” and “The Golden Triangle: Inside Southeast Asia’s Drug Trade” as well as numerous papers and articles that “Chinese [drug and crime] networks are horizontally structured, fluid, and opportunistic.” They have also argued that, in private conversations, “even US drug enforcement officials in the field have acknowledged that there are no drug kingpins, or at least they have not seen any in China or Southeast Asia.” Furthermore, Chin and Zhang state categorically in their books and research papers that they have never uncovered any evidence of significant triad involvement in the drug trade. Some triad members may deal in drugs but their main illicit income derives chiefly from enterprises such as construction, extortion, gambling, prostitution and fraud. Indeed, the use of the term “kingpin” is and has always been misleading when referring to narcotics suppression in the Golden Triangle and the term is often manufactured as a distractionary focal point while other actors — including supposedly legitimate businessmen and even state officials — wheel and deal narcotics under the radar. But naming and shaming such people could have diplomatic as well as legal consequences. Then, on Jan. 21 last year, Tse Chi Lop was arrested by Dutch police in Schiphol Airport when he — rather astonishingly if he was such a notorious criminal — was changing planes on his way to Canada from Taiwan. And during the year that has elapsed since the arrest of “Asia’s El Chapo”, drug production in the Golden Triangle has, apparently, increased rather than suffered any major blows. Recent UNODC claims about massive increases in narcotics production in Myanmar along with fanciful stories about kingpins may be questionable to say the least. But it is even more disturbing that the UNODC recently advertised on its website that it is looking for a new “drug control and crime prevention officer” to be based in Yangon. According to the announcement, the officer will “liaise with Government’s institutions (in line with the common UN position), civil society, regional and international aid agencies and financial institutions, and the media.” It is not specified which “Government” that might be, but because the office is located in Yangon, the reference is surely to the military regime’s current State Administration Council-appointed cabinet. That is also in line with inviting the junta’s deputy minister of home affairs, Lieutenant General Than Hlaing, to attend the 64th meeting of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) in Vienna in April last year. The CND is the UNODC’s governing body and the event was highly publicized in Myanmar’s now military-run media — but, predictably, drew criticism from civil society organizations. As a member of a ministry that controls both the police and the special branch, Lt-Gen Than Hlaing has since the coup played a central role in violent crackdowns on pro-democracy protests. The CND also overlooked the fact that he was, and still is, therefore officially blacklisted by both the European Union and the United States. Despite such blunders, there is no denying that drug abuse is a major social problem in the region. According to official statistics from the various Southeast Asian countries, in 2019 there were no less than 9.86 million users of ATS-type drugs, while 3.67 million people used ecstasy, and 3.29 million users were addicted to opium or heroin. That means tens of millions of dollars in income to the traffickers and substantial amounts of money to corrupt police officers and other officials while many users have had to resort to crime to finance their habits. The sad reality, though, is that the UNODC has become part of the problem rather than the solution..."
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Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
2022-02-07
Date of entry/update: 2022-02-07
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Description: " The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime is warning that opium production in Myanmar may rise again if the economic crunch brought on by COVID-19 and a February 1 coup persists, with fallout for much of the region. Myanmar is the world’s second-largest producer of opium, the raw material for heroin, after Afghanistan and the main supplier for most of East and Southeast Asia. UNODC figures show Myanmar’s opium output falling steadily since 2014, down to 405 metric tons last year. But the U.N. agency says the trend is likely to reverse as more farmers and out-of-work laborers turn to tending poppy to make ends meet. “The opium economy is really a poverty economy; it functions in a sense the opposite of what the licit economy does. As people exit that economy and they need to make money, they are going to be looking at places they can make it, and often people that are in poor areas and poverty-stricken areas look to make money from the opium economy,” said Jeremy Douglas, the UNODC’s representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific. “Probably 12 months out, 18 months out, we’re going to be looking at an expansion unless past history is wrong. There’s a cycle of this happening in the country over its history,” he added. Douglas was speaking on a virtual panel hosted by the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand in May about the potential for a spike in criminal activity in post-coup Myanmar. Job opportunities Already bruised by months pandemic-induced lockdowns, Myanmar’s economy was hit hard again in February by the coup. Facing a spate of new Western sanctions aimed at hurting the military junta now running the country, and widespread work strikes to protest the putsch, the World Bank expects the economy to shrink 10% this year. Fitch Solutions, an international credit ratings agency, says the contraction will be twice that. The United Nations Development Program is predicting the downturn to leave nearly half the population of Myanmar, some 25 million people, in poverty by 2022. As those who left the opium-growing regions of Myanmar head back for a lack of jobs in the cities, some will try their luck in neighboring Thailand, “but at least some of them are going to go back into the opium economy,” Douglas said. Alongside opium’s decline, the dominant drug story in the region over the past few years has been the dramatic rise in methamphetamine production, most of it also pouring out of Myanmar. Compared with the synthetic, lab-made narcotic, though, growing opium takes far more work, which means more potential jobs. “Methamphetamine is not an employer,” said Douglas. “People are going to go back to opium to make money, to feed themselves, potentially feed their families. They’re not going to be able to do that with methamphetamine.”.....‘Many hungry mouths’: Most of Myanmar’s opium is grown in the northeastern states of Kachin and Shan. Dan Seng Lawn, executive director of the Kachinland Research Center, a local think tank that studies the country’s drug trade, agreed that opium production was well poised to rise again. “Opium cultivation has never stopped. It’s come down, but now I think it seems to be a good time to expand the cultivation,” he told VOA. “There are many hungry mouths, so, I think if the opium farmers can employ these manual laborers or things like that, they will go there.” Opium farmers don’t earn what they used to. UNODC figures show prices falling steadily since 2016, along with output. But over the past few months, prices for many other domestically grown and consumed crops have fallen faster. Wholesale prices for potatoes, onions, beans and other staples were down 22% to 48% in April compared with a year earlier, likely due to lower demand from cash-strapped shoppers, according to the International Food Policy Research Institute, based in Washington. Dan Seng Lawn said poppy is also easier to store than many other crops and delivers a reliable, if diminishing, profit. In hard times, he said, “opium is the best cash crop that these borderland communities can [use to] sort out their subsistence problems.” Opium farming has long been a “survival strategy” in the northeast, and often not an either-or option, said Myanmar analyst David Mathieson. Speaking to VOA, he said many farmers in the region grow some opium on the side to shore up their savings and hedge against potential problems with their other crops.....Supply and demand: The coup may end up working in the opium trade’s favor in other ways too. Dan Seng Lawn said police forces distracted by an increasingly armed resistance to the ruling junta are likely to spend less time on stopping the flow of drugs, leaving opium farmers and traffickers more room to ply their trade. And with some of Myanmar’s many ethnic rebel armies joining the popular resistance movement, analysts say the junta may try to shore up support among the militias that shelter many of the country’s drug networks by cutting deals that let them ramp up production. “If you look at the security situation, there’s a lot of militias that the military now needs to be on their side, and it’s a lot of the militias that are involved in protecting opium cultivation. So, that’s something to look at,” Mathieson said. “For a lot of militias, it’s like, well, if the military is now going to turn a blind eye and not come after our opium cultivation, we can tell more people to do it and we can sell more on regional markets.” Mathieson said he still expected any additional production to be relatively modest but added that more supply could also boost demand if it lowers prices. Whatever the bump in output, Douglas, of the UNODC, said any extra supply would have little trouble finding a market in a region with a long history of heroin use and well-plied trafficking routes to move it through. “Two-point-six billion people in the neighborhood of this country, and the best heroin in the world,” he said. “So, there will be demand for it, if not in the region, outside the region, and they’ll meet that demand, there’s no doubt about it.”..."
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Source/publisher: "VOA" (Washington, D.C)
2021-05-31
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-31
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Description: "Myanmar authorities seized 70 kilograms of heroin in Shan state, according to a release from the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC) on Tuesday. Acting on a tip-off, a joint police force confiscated heroin worth one billion kyats (750,750 U.S. dollars) from a vehicle along with one suspect in Tachilek township on Monday. The township police filed a case against the suspect and further investigation was underway as per the country's Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Law, the release said. According to a latest release issued by the President's Office, a total of 1,498 drug-related cases were registered across Myanmar while 2,293 people were charged in connection with the cases as of Jan. 9 this year, since the formation of the Drug Activity Special Complaint Department on June 26, 2018..."
Source/publisher: "Xinhua" (China)
2021-01-12
Date of entry/update: 2021-01-15
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Description: " Myanmar authorities seized 7.7 kilograms of heroin in Sagaing Region, according to a release from the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC) on Sunday. Acting on a tip-off, the joint police force made a seizure during their operation in Salingyi township on Saturday. Heroin worth 770 million kyats (550,000 U.S. dollars) were confiscated from a car. The township police filed a case against 10 suspects in connection with the case and further investigation is underway under the country's Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Law, the release said. According to a latest release issued by the President's Office, a total of 1,246 drug-related cases were registered across Myanmar while 1,922 people were charged in connection with the cases as of July 11 this year, since the formation of the Drug Activity Special Complaint Department on June 26, 2018..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Xinhua" (China)
2020-07-26
Date of entry/update: 2020-07-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Description: " Myanmar authorities seized 17.6 kilograms of heroin and 125,400 stimulants in Sagaing region, according to a release from the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC) on Thursday. Acting on a tip-off, the anti-narcotic police force made a seizure during their operation in Pinlebu township on Wednesday. Heroin worth 1.76 billion kyats (1.25 million U.S. dollars) and stimulants worth 627 million kyats (447,857 U.S. dollars) were confiscated from a car along with four suspects. The township police filed a case against the suspects and further investigation is underway under the country's Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Law, the release said. According to a latest release issued by the President's Office on Monday, a total of 1,196 drug-related cases were registered across Myanmar while 1,846 people were charged in connection with the cases as of June 20 this year, since the formation of the Drug Activity Special Complaint Department on June 26, 2018..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Xinhua" (China)
2020-06-26
Date of entry/update: 2020-06-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Description: " Myanmar authorities seized 22 kilograms of heroin in Shan state, according to a release from the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC) on Sunday. Acting on a tip-off, a joint anti-narcotic police team searched a vehicle in Hsenwi township on Saturday. Heroin worth 660 million kyats (471,428 U.S. dollars) was confiscated from the vehicle and one suspect arrested. The township police filed a case against the suspect and further investigation is underway under the country's Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Law, the release said. According to a latest release issued by the President's Office, a total of 1,169 drug-related cases were registered across Myanmar while 1,811 people were charged in connection with the cases as of June 6 this year, since the formation of the Drug Activity Special Complaint Department on June 26, 2018..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Xinhua" (China)
2020-06-14
Date of entry/update: 2020-06-14
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Description: "Myanmar authorities seized 8.14 kg of heroin and 142,500 stimulants in Kachin state, according to a release from the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC) on Tuesday. Acting on a tip-off, a police force stopped and searched a car in Shwe Ku township late Sunday. Heroin worth 651.2 million kyats (465,142 U.S. dollars) and stimulants worth 427.5 million kyats (305,357 U.S. dollars) were seized from the car and three suspects were arrested. The township police filed a case against the suspects and further investigation is underway, the release said. According to a latest release issued by the President's Office on Monday, a total of 1,169 drug-related cases have been registered across Myanmar while 1,811 have been charged in connection with the cases as of June 6 this year, since the formation of the Drug Activity Special Complaint Department in June 2018..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Xinhua" (China)
2020-06-09
Date of entry/update: 2020-06-13
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Description: "Myanmar authorities seized 4.092 kg of heroin in Sagaing Region, according to a release from the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC) on Thursday. Acting on tip-offs, the anti-narcotic police force stoped and searched a car in Khampat township on Tuesday. Heroin worth over 245 million kyats (over 175,371 U.S. dollars) were confiscated from the car. The township police filed a case against four suspects in connection with the case and further investigation is underway under the country's Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Law, the release said. On the same day, a total of 202,000 stimulants worth 202 million kyats (144,285 U.S. dollars) were seized in Tachileik township of the Shan state. According to a latest release issued by the President's Office on Monday, a total of 1,156 drug-related cases were registered across Myanmar while 1,790 were charged in connection with the cases as of May 30 this year, since the formation of the Drug Activity Special Complaint Department on June 26, 2018..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Xinhua" (China)
2020-06-04
Date of entry/update: 2020-06-04
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Sub-title: The massive haul raises fears that the opioid crisis ravaging the US may emerge in Asia
Description: "Myanmar police say they have seized a huge haul of liquid fentanyl, the first time one of the dangerous synthetic opioids that have ravaged North America has been found in Asia’s Golden Triangle drug-producing region. In a signal that Asia’s drug syndicates have moved into the lucrative opioid market, Reuters can reveal more than 3,700 litres of methylfentanyl was discovered by anti-narcotics police near Loikan village in Shan State in northeast Myanmar. The seizure of the fentanyl derivative was part of Asia’s biggest-ever interception of illicit drugs, precursors and drug-making equipment, including 193 million methamphetamine tablets known as yaba. At 17.5 tonnes, the yaba almost equalled the amount seized in the previous two years in Myanmar. The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said the scale of the bust was unprecedented and Myanmar’s anti-drug authorities had “dismantled a significant network” during a two-month operation involving police and military. Also seized were almost 163,000 litres and 35.5 tonnes of drug precursors, as well as weapons. There were more than 130 arrests. Even so, the methylfentanyl discovery was an ominous indicator for the region’s illicit drug market, the U.N. agency and a Western official based in Myanmar told Reuters. “It could be a game-changer because fentanyl is so potent that its widespread use would cause a major health concern for Myanmar and the region,” said the Western official, who declined to be identified..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
2020-05-20
Date of entry/update: 2020-05-31
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Topic: Drugs Trade
Topic: Drugs Trade
Description: "In what may be Southeast Asia’s largest drug bust, authorities in Myanmar have announced the seizure of 35.5 tons of methamphetamine and other drugs and 163,000 liters of precursor chemicals in northeastern Myanmar’s Shan State. The seizures, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, took place in the area around Kutkai township between February 20 and April 9. Drug labs in Shan State have become a primary source of narcotics for the entire Asia-Pacific region in recent years. An international investigation recently identified the dominant force behind this trade as a single crime syndicate known as Sam Gor. There are no reports as to whether the recent seizures are connected to this organization, but from what authorities have disclosed, Southeast Asia’s drug syndicates are producing and trafficking drugs on such a scale that a few dozen tons are an acceptable loss. The operations in Shan seized 193 million “yaba” methamphetamine tablets—nearly 18 tons of meth—as well as over 500 kilograms of crystal meth, 630 kilograms of ephedrine, 588 kilograms of opium and 292 kilograms of heroin. The quantity of methamphetamine found is nearly double the total amount seized by the Myanmar government in 2018 or 2019. Authorities also seized over 3,500 liters of liquid methylfentanyl, which is used to make fentanyl, a deadly synthetic opioid that is reportedly fifty times stronger than heroin and lethal in doses as small as two milligrams. Fentanyl was partially to blame for three drug overdoses in Bangkok late last year. The incident has led some to believe that fentanyl is now in the heroin supply of the Thai capital. “We can today confirm that drug production and trafficking in and through Shan is not what some have been thinking; it is more than meth tablets and crystal and has evolved to synthetic opioids on a scale nobody anticipated,” said Jeremy Douglas, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Regional Representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific..."
Source/publisher: "ASEAN Today" (Singapore)
2020-05-20
Date of entry/update: 2020-05-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Description: "The United Wa State Army (UWSA) on Wednesday handed over a drug trafficker it arrested along with 3.5 million methamphetamine pills in the south of the Wa self-administered zone. “The handover took place in Hui-au, in our controlled area of southern Wa State. We have also handed over other detainees to the government after previous arrests,” UWSA external relations officer Nyi Rang told The Irrawaddy. In response to a drug trafficking tipoff, a USWA battalion searched the Lwel Htwe mountain range about 5 km from the Thai border, he said. The UWSA said it found around 40 suspected drug smugglers, who opened fire on the troops. After exchanging fire, one suspect was killed and another was detained alive, according to the UWSA. The armed group said it seized around 3,510,000 meth pills. “We carried out an interrogation. The others fled and the case is not over so it is inappropriate to reveal the details but most of the suspects were from Myanmar’s territory,” said Nyi Rang. Myanmar’s military and police took part in the handover, said military spokesman Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun. “As it is an area held by an EAO [ethnic armed organization], we assisted the police. The police will open a case,” he said..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
2020-05-22
Date of entry/update: 2020-05-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: Thousands of litres of methyl fentanyl point to ‘unprecedented’ production of opioids in so-called Golden Triangle area
Description: "Myanmar has made south-east Asia’s largest-ever seizure of synthetic drugs in raids that revealed “unprecedented” production of opioids in the area, the UN has said. Between February and April, authorities swooped on labs in the lawless Kutkai area of Shan state, seizing nearly 200m meth tablets, 500kg (1,100lbs) of crystal meth, 300kg of heroin, and 3,750 litres of methyl fentanyl. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) described the haul as one of the largest and most successful counter-narcotics operations in the history of the region. “What has been unearthed through this operation is truly off the charts,” Jeremy Douglas, the UNODC south-east Asia and Pacific representative said in a statement. The production network could have been possible only with the backing of serious transnational criminal groups, he added. The raids unearthed “unprecedented” methyl fentanyl, the sign of a new trend of synthetic opioid production emerging “on a scale nobody anticipated”, said Douglas. Fifty times stronger than heroin and up to 100 times more potent than morphine, fentanyl can be lethal from as little as two milligrams – the equivalent of a few grains of sand. It has fuelled an opioid crisis in the US that killed 32,000 people in 2018. Myanmar is under pressure to stem the deluge of drugs from its border regions. Shan state is part of the “Golden Triangle” – a wedge of land cutting into Myanmar, Laos, China and Thailand and virtually untroubled by authorities despite the multi-billion dollar trade..."
Source/publisher: "Agence France-Presse" (Paris) via "South China Morning Post" (Hong Kong)
2020-05-19
Date of entry/update: 2020-05-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Description: "Myanmar police say they have seized a huge haul of liquid fentanyl, the first time one of the dangerous synthetic opioids that have ravaged North America has been found in Asia’s Golden Triangle drug-producing region. In a signal that Asia’s drug syndicates have moved into the lucrative opioid market, Reuters can reveal more than 3,700 litres of methylfentanyl was discovered by anti-narcotics police near Loikan village in Shan State in northeast Myanmar. The seizure of the fentanyl derivative was part of Asia’s biggest-ever interception of illicit drugs, precursors and drug-making equipment, including 193 million methamphetamine tablets known as yaba. At 17.5 tonnes, the yaba almost equalled the amount seized in the previous two years in Myanmar. The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said the scale of the bust was unprecedented and Myanmar’s anti-drug authorities had “dismantled a significant network” during a two-month operation involving police and military. Also seized were almost 163,000 litres and 35.5 tonnes of drug precursors, as well as weapons. There were more than 130 arrests. Even so, the methylfentanyl discovery was an ominous indicator for the region’s illicit drug market, the U.N. agency and a Western official based in Myanmar told Reuters..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Reuters" (UK)
2020-05-18
Date of entry/update: 2020-05-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Description: "Myanmar authorities seized a large haul of raw opium and controlled chemicals in Shan state, said a release from the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC) on Saturday. A group of security personnel confiscated 1,038 kilograms of raw opium from a car during their operation on Kyethi-Mongnawng road on Friday. The township police filed a case to capture the suspect who was not at the scene under the country's Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Law. According to the committee's release, a total of 26,560 liters of ethyl acetate were seized from a cargo truck in the same township on Thursday. Four suspects were charged in connection with the case under the Prevention of Hazard from Chemical and Related Substances Law..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Xinhua" (China)
2020-05-09
Date of entry/update: 2020-05-09
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Description: "Myanmar authorities seized 3.96 kilograms of heroin in Sagaing Region, according to a release from the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC) on Wednesday. Acting on a tip-off, a joint police force stopped and searched a motorcycle in Tamu township on Monday. Soap boxes filled with heroin worth over 237 million kyats (169,714 U.S. dollars) were confiscated from the motorcycle. The township police filed a case against the suspect who ran away from the scene under the country's Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Law, the release said. According to a latest release issued by the President's Office on Monday, a total of 1,083 drug-related cases were registered across Myanmar while 1,666 suspects were charged in connection with the cases as of May 2 this year, since the formation of the Drug Activity Special Complaint Department on June 26, 2018..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Xinhua" (China)
2020-05-06
Date of entry/update: 2020-05-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Topic: Kachin State, drugs, addiction
Topic: Kachin State, drugs, addiction
Description: "The rise of drug addiction in Kachin State has prompted dozens of private treatment centres to open up, promoting physical and spiritual wellbeing. This week we hear the personal stories of some of those addicts receiving treatment and we look at the personal and financial cost of getting clean. Listen in Burmese and Jinghpaw..."
Source/publisher: "Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
2020-03-02
Date of entry/update: 2020-03-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Myanmar authorities have seized a large haul of narcotic drugs including 6.6 kg of heroin and 89,300 stimulant tablets in Sagaing region, according to a release from the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC) on Sunday. The confiscation was made by a joint police force in Indaw Township on Friday. Soap boxes filled with heroin worth 660 million kyats (US$440,000) and stimulants worth 446.5 million kyats (US$297,666) were seized from a car. The township police filed a case against the suspect who ran away from the scene under the country's Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Law, the release said. The seizure also comes after Myanmar authorities had seized a large haul of narcotic drugs including 22kg of heroin and 549,000 stimulant tablets in Mandalay region on Thursday. The seizure was made by a joint police force in Kyaukse township on Monday. That times, the haul saw soapboxes filled with heroin worth 1.54 billion kyats (US$1.02mil) and stimulants worth 2.74 billion kyats (US$1.83mil) were confiscated from a car and a bush nearby where the car parked in the township..."
Source/publisher: "The Star Online" (Selangor)
2020-02-16
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-17
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Myanmar authorities seized a large haul of narcotic drugs including 22 kilograms of heroin and 549,000 stimulant tablets in Mandalay region, according to a release from the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC) on Wednesday. The seizure was made by a joint police force in Kyaukse township on Monday. Soap boxes filled with heroin worth 1.54 billion kyats (1.02 million U.S. dollars) and stimulants worth 2.74 billion kyats (1.83 million U.S. dollars) were confiscated from a car and a bush nearby where the car parked in the township. The township police filed a case to capture the suspect who was absent at the scene under the country's Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Law, the release said. According to a recent release from the President's Office, a total of 971 drug-related cases were logged across Myanmar while 1,503 suspects were charged as of Feb. 8 this year, since the formation of the Drug Activity Special Complaint Department on June 26, 2018. The authorities are striving the best to fight drug trafficking and urge public members to directly inform drug trafficking-related cases to the department as well as the Home Affairs Ministry and relevant region and state governments, the release said..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Xinhua" (China)
2020-02-12
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-13
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Topic: Armed Ethnic Groups, Conflict, cultivation, Drugs, Farming, growth, heroin, Kachin, Narcotics, Opium, poppies, poppy, production, Shan, UNODC
Topic: Armed Ethnic Groups, Conflict, cultivation, Drugs, Farming, growth, heroin, Kachin, Narcotics, Opium, poppies, poppy, production, Shan, UNODC
Description: "Opium cultivation in Myanmar decreased last year, continuing the downward trend that started in 2014 due in part to the continuing shift in the regional drug market towards synthetic drugs, according to a new UN survey. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Myanmar Opium Survey 2019, released on Tuesday in Naypyitaw, the amount of land cultivated for opium dropped 11 percent in 2019 to 33,100 hectares (ha), continuing the downward trend from 57,600 ha in 2014. Decreases were observed in Shan State’s northern, eastern and southern areas with drops of 7, 8 and 17 percent respectively, but cultivation increased slightly in Kachin State, up 15 percent from 2018. Despite the declines, the UNODC said that “the highest levels of cultivation continue to take place in unstable and conflict prone areas of Shan and Kachin.” It added that opium cultivation, heroin production and trafficking, and the evolving illicit drug economy, including heroin and synthetic drugs, “are affecting peace and stability in the country and surrounding border areas.” Shan and Kachin states are Myanmar’s main opium producing areas and UNODC focused its 2019 survey on these states. In 2018, Chin and Kayah states were included in the survey. UNODC conducts the Myanmar Opium Survey jointly with the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC) under Myanmar’s Ministry of Home Affairs..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
2020-02-04
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Description: "Myanmar’s illegal poppy growing has declined by 11 per cent and poppy production by over two per cent, said Deputy Minister for Home Affairs Major General Aung Thu, at a ceremony to release the Myanmar poppy production survey report, held at Horizon Lake View Hotel in Nay Pyi Taw on February. Last year, there were 33,100 hectares of poppy plantations in Myanmar. In 2006, the illegal poppy growing and production reached the lowest. But the period between 2007 and 2013 saw an increase in, the poppy production and the period between 2014 and 2019, a decline. “There were 55,000 hectors of poppy plantations in 2015, 41,000 hectares in 2017, 37,300 hectares in 2018 and 33,100 hectares in 2019. Poppy growth declined by 11 per cent in 2019 compared with 2018,” the deputy minister added. “Myanmar’s poppy production reached 647 metric tons in 2015, 550 metric tons in 2017, 520 metric tons in 2018 and 508 metric tons in 2019. The poppy production declined by over two per cent in 2019 compared with 2018,” the deputy minister said. According to the UNODC’s report 2019, Myanmar’s ranking dropped to the third position in the World Drug Report 2019 from the second largest opium producer in the world, he said..."
Source/publisher: "Eleven Media Group" (Myanmar)
2020-02-05
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: Seized heroin packets were concealed in gearbox, dashboard and backside of a car
Description: "Six drug peddlers, including a woman, were arrested in Mizoram’s Champhai town near the Indo-Myanmar border on Sunday, for possessing 1.5 kg of heroin. State excise and narcotics department spokesperson Peter Zohmingthanga said, “On Sunday, the anti-narcotic squad of excise and narcotics department and volunteers of Champhai’s Zotlang locality intercepted an Aizawl-bound Santro car at Champhai’s Ruantlang locality on Sunday night.” After search, the anti-narcotic squad was able to recover 1.5 kg of heroin from the car. The seized heroin packets were concealed in the gearbox, dashboard, and backside of the car, Zohmingthanga said. The arrested persons have been identified as Lalrinchhana (32), Jacob Lalhriatpuia (28), Malsawmtluanga (28) and Lalnunthanga (23), all belonging to Champhai’s Zotlang locality, and Hmingthansanga (29) and Lallianpari (44), both from Dartetui village, he said. They were booked under the relevant section of the Narcotic Drugs & Psychotropic Substances (ND&PS) Act, 1985. The contraband, valued at Rs 36 lakh in the local market, was being smuggled from Myanmar. The six were produced before a special judge of ND &PS Act and were sent to Champhai district jail on Monday..."
Source/publisher: "Northeast Now" (India)
2020-01-21
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Description: "Myanmar police busted 21.35 kg of raw opium in the same township of Shan state, said a release from the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC) on Wednesday. Acting on tip-off, a joint police force seized 4.5 kg of raw opium and some stimulants from a house in Taung Thone Lone (Upper) village in Tachileik township on Tuesday morning. On the same day, 16.85 kg of raw opium and 13,500 stimulant tablets were confiscated from another house in the same village later. Two suspects were charged in connection with the cases under the country's Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Law. According to a press release issued by the President Office on Monday, a total of 1,411 people were arrested in connection with 896 drug-related cases from June 26, 2018 to Dec. 21, 2019. On June 26 last year, Myanmar government announced formation of the Drug Activity Special Complaint Department to accept and respond to reports on drug abuses and related cases from the public. The authorities are stepping up the efforts to fight against drug trafficking and urge the public to directly inform drug trafficking cases to the department, as well as Home Affairs Ministry and relevant state and region governments, the release said..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Xinhua" (China)
2019-12-25
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-13
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Description: "Myanmar anti-narcotic police seized 3.74 kg of heroin and some stimulants in Shan state, said a release from the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC) on Friday (Jan 10). The seizures were made in Lashio and Muse townships on Thursday. Acting on tip-off, a joint narcotic police force confiscated 1.98 kg of heroin and 246,000 stimulant tablets from a car travelling on Muse-Namhkan road in Muse township on Thursday afternoon. In the evening of the same day, soap boxes filled with 1.76 kg of heroin were seized from a vehicle on Muse-Mandalay road during the joint police force's anti-narcotic operation. Three suspects were charged in connection with the cases. According tointernational reports, Myanmar’s remote mountains and valleys have played a central role in the regional supply chains for illicit drugs..."
Source/publisher: "The Star Online" (Malaysia)
2020-01-10
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Description: "Contrary to popular belief, the poppy has not always been a major cash crop in the Golden Triangle—and nor has the sale and consumption of opium always been illegal. Prior to World War Two, all countries in Southeast Asia has government-controlled opium monopolies, not unlike the tobacco monopolies today. What was illegal was to smuggle opium and to trade without a licence. Most local addicts were ethnic Chinese, who had migrated to Southeast Asia's urban centres in the 19th and early 20th centuries—and brought with them the opium smoking habit from their old homes in China. In the beginning, Thailand (then Siam) had actually tried to stop the practice. In 1811, King Loetlahnaphalai (Rama II) had promulgated Siam's first formal ban on selling and consuming opium. In 1839, King Nangklao (Rama III) reiterated the prohibition, and he introduced the death penalty for major opium traffickers. These efforts, however, were doomed to failure. Ethnic Chinese traffickers could be arrested and punished—but a much more powerful institution was pushing Siam to open its doors to the drug: the British East India Company, which had initiated large-scale cultivation in its Indian colonies, and was looking for new export markets in the region. Thailand was never a colony, but that did not mean that it escaped the scourges that had fol- lowed foreign rule in neighbouring countries. Finally, in 1852, Siam's revered King Mongkut (Rama IV) bowed to British pressures. He established a royal opium franchise which was "farmed out" to local entrepreneurs, mostly wealthy Chinese traders. Opium, lottery, gambling and alcohol permits were up for grabs. By the end of the 19th century, taxes on these monopolies provided between 40 and 50 per cent of Siam's government revenue.1 The American researcher Alfred McCoy, who has written extensively about the origin and evo- lution of Southeast Asia's drug trade, describes how the importance of the opium business gradu- ally increased..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: Bertil Lintner
2000-03-00
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-09
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 387.02 KB (30 pages)
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Description: "Since the end of the Cold War there has been increased recognition of non-traditional security threats, such as drug trafficking, as contributors to instability within and amongst states. Myanmar (formerly Burma), the hub of the ‘Golden Triangle’ drug trade, has been a state in constant conflict since its independence in 1948. Using the theoretical framework of human security, this thesis analyses the impact of the drug trade on both Myanmar’s society and its transnational impacts. First, this thesis examines the extent to which the drug trade in Myanmar permeates to other states through porous borders creating a situation of transnational human insecurity. Secondly, Myanmar’s current democratic transition is examined to determine how the state of Myanmar is undergoing changes in its state- building process. Finally, these two themes are intersected to demonstrate how illicit narcotics trafficking are hampering Myanmar’s transition towards a liberal democracy. This thesis provides new insight into the problems posed by transnational narcotics trafficking and human insecurity to the democratisation process..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: University of Southern Queensland (Queensland)
2014-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 1.03 MB (77 pages)
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Description: "The Asia-Pacific drug trade has a new kingpin, at least according to the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and some Western anti-narcotics officials. His name: Tse Chi Lop, a Chinese-born Canadian citizen also known as Sam Gor, or Brother No. 3 in Cantonese, who is reputedly the leader of a gang that controls most of the region’s illegal and wide-reaching methamphetamine trade. In October, Reuters published an in-depth investigation exposing Tse’s new “Asian meth syndicate”, which according to report controls the bulk of the region’s rampant trade in the narcotic. The Reuters report referred to him as “Asia’s most-wanted man” who runs a “vast multinational drug trafficking syndicate” in alliance with “five of Asia’s triad groups.” The UNODC, the report said, estimates Tse’s syndicate’s 2018 revenues at US$8-17.7 billion in 2018, with Asian sales reaching from Japan to New Zealand. Tse, who’s whereabouts are unknown, has not responded to the allegations..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
2019-12-01
Date of entry/update: 2019-12-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Myanmar authorities have destroyed a total of 133.5 acres (54 hectares) illegally grown opium poppy plantations in eastern Shan state, said a statement of the Home Ministry late Wednesday. The opium poppy plantations, destroyed on Tuesday, include those grown in Pinlaung, Hopone, Pekon, Hsihseng, Maukmai, Mongnai and Mongpan towns. Between the period from Oct. 28 to Nov. 23, the authorities had wiped out 177.6 hectares illegally grown opium poppy plantations in several villages in the same state. Opium destruction is part of the government's efforts to stem opium production in the country. According to government statistics, poppy was cultivated on 37,300 hectares of land and 520 tons were produced in Myanmar in 2018, down by 9 percent and 5.45 percent respectively as compared with 2017 when poppy was cultivated on 41,000 hectares and 550 tons were produced..."
Source/publisher: "Xinhua" (China)
2019-11-28
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Description: "A UN Office of Drugs and Crime report released last week states that the methamphetamine trade is now worth between US$30-61 billion per year in East and South East Asia, Australia, New Zealand and Bangladesh. That figure is up from US$15 billion a year, nearly a decade ago, the last time the UNODC estimated the value of the methamphetamine trade in the region. Better enforcement, co-operation with neighbouring governments, increased manpower, more sophisticated surveillance and increased numbers of seizures have happened whilst the trade in meth has blossomed in the region. Methamphetamine pills (aka. yaba in Thailand) are now being sold at highly discounted prices, and the well publicised massive seizures and interceptions do little to dent the operations of highly sophisticated and tech-savvy drug traffickers. Even the crystal methamphetamine (ice) from the region is feeding demand as far away as New Zealand. Experts say the boom in South East Asia’s methamphetamine industry is the result of a series of regional and political factors, which have seen Myanmar’s lawless Shan State emerge as the regional meth factory. The Shan State is in Myanmar’s north-east and borders Thailand, Laos and China..."
Source/publisher: "The Thaiger" (Thailand)
2019-07-21
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Chinese drug police are working with Mekong countries to strike at the heart of a mega-rich meth syndicate, a senior Beijing drugs tsar said, as the region targets top-level drug traffickers instead of street dealers. The porous lawless border areas of Myanmar, Thailand and Laos have for decades been a hub for heroin production, but the so-called "Golden Triangle" drug trade is now pumping unprecedented quantities of synthetic drugs into the global markets, fuelling a US$61 billion drug trade. In large part responsible for the dramatic shift to synthetic drugs is a mega-cartel known as Sam Gor which the UN's Office on Drugs and Crime believes is Asia's biggest crime syndicate led by a Chinese-born Canadian citizen named Mr Tse Chi Lop. China is now stepping up efforts with Mekong countries Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam to take down Sam Gor in a "joint operation", said an official from China's National Narcotics Control Commission. "They are one of the major threats," said deputy commissioner Mr Andy Tsang on the sidelines of a Friday meeting to stamp out a regional plan. "The region as a whole, China included, will do our best to hit it where it hurts the most," he told AFP..."
Source/publisher: Agence France-Presse (AFP) (France) via "Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
2019-11-16
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-16
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "THE United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) has reported that the land planted with opium poppy fell by 10 percent last year, but local law analysts said the illegal drug trade continues to grow. According to the report, an estimated 37,300 hectares of opium poppy were planted in Myanmar last year, down from 41,000 hectares in 2017. Shan and Kachin states were the top producers of opium poppy with a combined 36,100 hectares, while Chin and Kayah states grew a combined 1200 hectares. But a spokesman for the country’s anti-narcotics force said the number of drug-related cases in the country increased last year. “Last year there were 13,000 drug cases brought to court and 18,000 people were arrested, much higher than the 8000 cases and 13,000 arrested in 2017,” said Police Chief Zaw Lin of the central anti-drug force. He said the increase in the number of drug-related arrests and interdiction could be attributed to a centre opened by President U Win Myint last June that provided secure lines of communication for people with tips. The International Crisis Group (ICG), a Brussels-based security think tank, said in a report last week that Shan State is now a global hub for the production of heroin and methamphetamine, with China as the main source of the precursor chemicals. The ICG urged the government and neighbouring countries, especially China, to help in the difficult fight to stop the drug trade in Shan State, warning that it could dominate the area’s economy..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
2019-01-15
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-09
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "This week, a Myanmar Times special report detailed a growing problem with methamphetamine in eastern Shan State. Despite unprecedented record seizures of meth in Myanmar in recent years, the industry is still going strong in the Golden Triangle. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime also noted that opium poppy cultivation has been decreasing yearly but Myanmar remains the second largest producer of opium in the world. As a regional effort cracks down on illicit drugs, crime gangs seems to be moving from cultivating poppy fields, which are easily located, to the manufacture of methamphetamine because it is easier to hide from the law. The International Crisis Group released a report on January 8 classifying Shan State as one of the largest global producers of meth. In its report, “Fire and Ice: Conflict and Drugs in Myanmar’s Shan State,” the global security think tank noted that the country’s proximity to China and the ongoing conflicts with armed ethnic groups provide a breeding ground for the production and export of narcotics. Land Law takes effect: Monday was the deadline for anyone occupying or using vacant, fallow, or virgin land to apply for a permit to use the land for 30 years or face eviction and up to two years in jail under the Vacant, Fallow, and Virgin (VFV) Land Management Law. The law has been criticised by an armed ethnic group for affecting millions of small farmers, especially in ethnic borderlands, and sparking fears of eviction and prison. As expected, on the first day of the law taking effect, local government officials and companies started evicting villagers from disputed lands, according to lawyers in southern Myanmar. Two cases are currently ongoing..."
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
2019-03-15
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-09
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "The clanking sound of leg irons shackled around the ankles of the unwilling patients signals the arrival of a small group of heroin addicts at the mess hall located inside a fortified Pat Ja San compound near Laiza in Myanmar’s Kachin state, located in the country's north along the border with China. The compound is one of 28 run in Kachin and neighboring Shan state by Pat Ja San, a Christian anti-drug vigilante group. International observers say treatments at the rehabilitation centers are rudimentary and brutal compared to modern Western methods. The detoxification program often includes locking patients in barred rooms and confining their legs to wooden stocks to prevent escape during the initial treatment when addicts experience the painful effects of withdrawal. Methadone is sometimes available, but medical training for the workers and access to modern drugs are limited, especially in the rural areas where military battles persist. 'Drug is everywhere': Lahtaw Ah Li, 22, is a new arrival. At 14, he began working at a jade mine in Hpakant township in Kachin state, where most of the industry is concentrated, scavenging through discarded rock piles for bits of the valuable gem. A few years later, he started using heroin to cope with the long hours. “The drug is for sale everywhere around the mine sites, and it’s cheap to buy," Ah Li said about heroin, which costs about 75 cents per injection..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Voice of America (VOA)" (USA)
2019-11-06
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-07
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: Kachin Independence Army denies UNODC claims and says crops grown in government-controlled areas
Description: "The recently-released “Myanmar Opium Survey 2018” by the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC) distorts reality, accuses ethnic rebels who are not involved in the drugs trade for being responsible for the scourge while turning a blind eye to official complicity in the trade. That is the basic message in a commentary published on March 5 by the Transnational Institute (TNI), a Dutch-based international research and advocacy group. The UNODC report claimed that “in Kachin State, the highest density of poppy cultivation took place in areas under the control or influence of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA).” That assertion prompted the Kachin rebels to issue a statement on February 14 pointing out that the UNODC’s own map in its report showed that most opium growing areas in Kachin State were located not in areas controlled by the KIA, but a government-recognized Border Guard Force, allied with the Myanmar military. TNI states that “there is presently no substantial opium cultivation” in rebel-held territory. The TNI has even criticized the KIA and Pat Jasan, a community-based, anti-drugs Kachin vigilante organization “for being overly repressive towards opium farmers and people who use drugs, rather than being in any way permissive.” The TNI goes to state that the UNODC claims that the highest density of opium cultivation in northern Shan State is in “areas under the control or influence of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army,” a Kokang guerilla army that does not control any territory, while opium is actually being grown and traded in areas that are controlled by local militias backed by the Myanmar military..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
2019-03-06
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: Opium cultivation in Kachin and Shan states is double the amount reported by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and it is all in Tatmadaw (military)-controlled areas, according to a report released by the Kachin Independence Organisatio
Description: "The KIO’s Drug Eradication Committee unveiled the report on the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on Wednesday. In its report, the KIO said that it had conducted surveys in 19 townships in Kachin and northern Shan during the 2018-2019 opium growing season, and it had found 6918 hectares of opium fields in Kachin, double the 3400 hectares estimated by the UNODC in its 2018 Myanmar Opium Survey. The KIO said it found some opium fields in Puta-o and Sumprabum, areas of Kachin that were not surveyed by UNODC. The UNODC report only mentions the Danai and Kanpaiti areas as opium-growing regions in Kachin, it said. The report also said there were 3192.4 hectares of opium fields in five townships in northern Shan. As in Kachin, all opium growing is taking place in areas controlled by the military, their Border Guard Force and allied militia, the KIO said..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
2019-07-01
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-12
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: The Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) has rejected the findings of the UN opium survey for 2018, saying it contains errors and is demanding a correction.
Description: "The armed ethnic group based in northern Shan issued the demand in an open letter on Monday to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). “[The report] is wrong and seriously misleading,” Lt. Col Sai Harn, head of the RCSS’s drug eradication programme, said in the letter, a copy of which was provided to The Myanmar Times. The RCSS objected to the agency’s map of armed groups that shows a large presence of the government-allied militia in southern Shan State, including in areas where there is a lot of opium poppy cultivation. The report made no mention of opium poppy cultivation in areas controlled by the Tatmadaw (military) and allied militias. It said the area of opium poppy cultivation in Myanmar had dropped 10 percent to 37,300 hectares in 2018, down from 41,000 hectares in 2017 and that Shan continues to be a major grower, accounting for almost 90pc of the total. The southern, eastern and northern portions of the state accounted for 38pc, 27pc and 23pc of total cultivation, respectively. The RCSS insisted that the map of armed groups in Myanmar on page seven of the report wrongly designated areas under the government-allied Pa-O National Organisation in southwest Shan as belonging to the Pa-O National Liberation Army (PNLA). These areas are shown on the map on page six as having a lot of opium poppy cultivation..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
2019-03-20
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-12
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Topic: methamphetamine, drugs, Kutkai, Shan State, Tatmadaw, Golden Triangle, crime
Topic: methamphetamine, drugs, Kutkai, Shan State, Tatmadaw, Golden Triangle, crime
Description: " Raids on jungle drug labs have been met with heavy artillery fire, Myanmar narcotics police said Thursday, in an area riddled with armed groups accused of pumping out much of the world's methamphetamine. Myanmar is under increasingly intense pressure from its neighbours to close down the meth labs in lawless parts of Shan State, the heart of the notorious "Golden Triangle". A major crackdown kicked off last month in Kutkai Township, northern Shan State, the Tatmadaw has said, where an entwined network of drug lords, ethnic rebel groups and security forces are accused of running a shadow drug economy worth billions of dollars. Huge stockpiles of chemicals as well as millions of dollars of ice, the highly addictive crystalised form of meth, were seized in one raid on homespun labs buried deep in the jungle. "The crackdown is ongoing," a senior police officer from the anti-drugs squad told AFP, requesting anonymity. The Tatmadaw and drug police initially conducted raids in the area on July 21 but were repelled by "heavy artillery" at the site, the officer said..."
Source/publisher: Agence France-Presse (AFP) (France) via "Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
2019-08-01
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "A Myanmar court on Wednesday jailed an Australian publisher for 13 years on drugs charges, a year after police uncovered a stash of methamphetamines and opium at his home, his lawyer said. Ross Dunkley, 62, was arrested along with business partner John Mackenzie and several Myanmar women in a June 2018 bust in the commercial capital of Yangon. Police said they found crystal methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana. Lawyer Khun Ring Pan said Dunkley and Mackenzie were sentenced to 13 years on the charges, with five Myanmar nationals jailed for 11 years each. "We will discuss with the client and decide what to do next," he said. Dunkley, co-founder of the English-language Myanmar Times newspaper, which he ran more than a decade, also published the Phnom Penh Post in Cambodia. In 2011 he spent time in prison in Myanmar for assaulting a woman and visa offences, but was released on time served..."
Source/publisher: "Reuters" (UK) via "Bangkok Post" (Thailand)
2019-08-07
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Myanmar's Shan State is the epicentre of the global methamphetamine supply and the export of the illegal drug is about to get even easier, warns a new report from the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG). Shan State, a centre of conflict and illicit drug production since 1950, is controlled partly by Myanmar’s army, the Tatmadaw, and partly by multiple armed militias, some with the patronage of the Tatmadaw. "Good infrastructure, proximity to precursor supplies from China and safe haven provided by pro-government militias and in rebel-held enclaves have also made it a major global source of high purity crystal meth," says the 36-page report titled Fire And Ice: Conflict And Drugs In Myanmar's Shan State. "Production takes place in safe havens held by militias and other paramilitary units allied with the Myanmar military, as well as in enclaves controlled by non-state armed groups," the report says. The report is only the latest in a string of studies and warnings in recent years, over the proliferation of meth from Shan State, whose drug industry has seen only growth. There have been record seizures of meth in the last two years beyond the immediate region - 1.2 tonnes in Western Australia; 0.9 tonnes in Melbourne; 1.6 tonnes in Indonesia; 1.2 tonnes in Malaysia..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "The Straits Times" (Singapore)
2019-01-08
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "As the International Crisis Group (ICG) report “Fire and Ice: Conflict and Drugs in Myanmar’s Shan State” makes clear, drugs are big business for the players in this northeastern state. But while decades ago, the focus of drug interdiction efforts was on opium and heroin, today it is a drug that is in strong demand in Myanmar, the region, and the world. Methamphetamines and their variations – including powerful and highly addictive Ice – make up a lucrative industry in the state. Gram-for-gram, crystal meth is worth more than heroin, and the total value of the Mekong drug trade is estimated at over $40 billion per year and rising, according to the report. In January 2018, the Myanmar army and police raided an abandoned house in Kutkai township in northern Shan State, seizing 30 million yaba pills, 1,750kg of crystal meth, more than 500kg of heroin and 200kg of caffeine powder. According to the authorities, it was the country’s largest-ever drug bust, with a domestic value of some $54 million. The following month, a joint army and police team raided two major crystal meth labs in the same area, seizing some seven million dollars’ worth of advanced laboratory equipment, twelve state-of-the art generators, huge quantities of precursor chemicals, and unused branded packaging sufficient for ten tonnes of product – suggesting that the labs were gearing up for a production run of that volume. While the sizes of these seizures may have been record-setting, they were not surprising. In the last few years, authorities have regularly captured huge quantities of crystal meth in Myanmar and beyond, with the bulk thought to originate from Shan State. These included 1.2 tonnes seized in Western Australia in December 2017 and 0.9 tonnes in April that year in Melbourne; almost 5 tonnes in Thailand over the course of 2017 and 15 tonnes from January-July 2018; 1.6 tonnes in Indonesia in February 2018; and 1.2 tonnes in Malaysia in May 2018. What is clear is 2018 figures will exceed those for 2017. The Kutkai raids were revealing in a number of ways. First, the location was not a remote, rebel-controlled part of Shan State beyond the authorities’ reach. Rather, it was relatively close to Lashio, not far from the main road to the Chinese border at Muse – Myanmar’s biggest overland trade route – in an area controlled by a militia allied with the Tatmadaw. The Tatmadaw thus had access to the area, even if law enforcement personnel did not. Crisis Group researchers could drive to the area and talk to local people there, passing through checkpoints manned by the militia and visiting the village where the abandoned house was located. Second, authorities described both the house and the laboratories as “abandoned”. This suggests that those responsible were tipped off and fled in advance of the raids – which were triggered by Myanmar authorities being given precise coordinates of the locations and a description of the activities taking place there, so that officials apparently felt that they had no alternative but to act. There were apparently no consequences for the militia that controls the area, which has maintained a ceasefire with the military for nearly 28 years and has a large compound in Lashio town centre that Crisis Group researchers visited. Seizures of crystal meth, as well as yaba, have increased significantly in recent years. Each massive haul tends to be presented as an interdiction victory. However, these record seizures represent the tip of an iceberg, and are therefore evidence of the scale of the problem rather than of any genuine success in addressing it. Despite massive seizures, prices of crystal meth have remained stable, a clear indication that they are a small proportion of total volumes..."
Source/publisher: "Mizzima" (Myanmar) via BNI Multimedia Group (Myanmar)
2019-06-03
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Myanmar authorities seized large haul of stimulant tablets in three townships of Shan state in a single day, according to the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC) on Saturday. The seizures were made in Pinlaung, Tachileik and Tangyan townships on Friday. Going undercover as a client, a joint police force captured two suspects along with 100,000 stimulant tablets worth 100 million kyats (66,667 U.S. dollars) in Pinlaung township on Friday evening. Also, 4,000 stimulant tablets were seized from a motorbike in Tachileik township, while 1,180 stimulant tablets were confiscated from a house in Tangyan township. Meanwhile, 210 grams of heroin and 320 stimulant tablets were also found from a motorbike when it was intercepted on Htee Chaint-Kawlin road in Kawlin township, Sagaing region, on the same day, the committee's release said. Five suspects in connection with the cases were charged under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Law..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Xinhua" (China)
2019-09-29
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Mobs of stick-wielding church-goers in Myanmar's northeast used to descend on dealers and addicts in a desperate effort to save their communities from a meth-induced health crisis sweeping the country. But anonymous death threats brought the vigilante operations to a halt. "It simply became too dangerous for us," says Zau Man, leader of the local Baptist church in Kutkai, a town in Shan State scarred by addiction. Myanmar is the second-biggest producer of opium in the world after Afghanistan and is now believed to be the largest source of methamphetamine. The multi-billion dollar industry outstrips rivals in South America to feed lucrative markets as far away as Sydney, Tokyo and Seoul. Shan is the epicentre of production in Myanmar, with a network of local armed groups linking up with transnational trafficking gangs. Kutkai sits between Mandalay and the militia-riddled town of Muse on the China border, a key entry point for precursor chemicals heading to Myanmar's illegal meth labs..."
Source/publisher: "The Straits Times" (Singapore)
2019-02-20
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Patrick Winn is a reporter who has been based in the region for the past 11 years and the author of a recently published book, “Hello Shadowlands,” that delves into Southeast Asia’s transnational crime networks, including the meth trade. When I spoke to him in Bangkok recently, he offered a sobering assessment. “The increase in consumption of methamphetamine across Southeast Asia, especially mainland Southeast Asia, is truly astonishing,” he said. “This region is by far and away the meth heartland of the world.” Measuring any illicit activity accurately presents real difficulties. In addition to looking at seizures, availability and the street prices of a drug, another way of trying to work out the scale of the market is arrests. Winn points out that in Thailand, “well over 90 percent of the time cops are arresting someone for drugs, it’s because they have methamphetamine, either pills or crystal meth.” His assessment is backed up by a 2013 report released by the UNODC. So why has Southeast Asia become such a center for both the production and consumption of methamphetamine? In a basic sense, the answer is simple. To produce methamphetamine requires little more than precursor chemicals, a basic laboratory setup and a competent chemist with the requisite knowledge and a place to work where they are not going to be disturbed. As long as these elements remain constant, there is not much limit to how much can be produced. All that’s left to monetize the drug is transporting it to mass markets..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "World Politics Review (WPR)"
2019-06-11
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: Instability, conflict since peace talks stalled in Kachin state have impoverished many, and some have turned to drugs.
Description: "In the mountainous region of Myanmar's northern-most Kachin state eight years of displacement and conflict has left many civilians distressed and poverty-stricken. A fragile ceasefire underlies the ongoing instability there while some have turned to drugs because of stress and depression..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
2019-09-24
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: Report warns export of drugs from Shan state will be easier with economic corridor project
Description: "Myanmar's Shan state is the epicentre of the global methamphetamine supply and the export of the illegal drug is about to get even easier, warns a new report from the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG). In Shan state, a centre of conflict and illicit drug production since 1950, the trade in heroin and methamphetamine tablets is controlled partly by Myanmar's army, the Tatmadaw, and partly by multiple armed militias, some with the patronage of the Tatmadaw. "Good infrastructure, proximity to precursor supplies from China and safe haven provided by pro-government militias and in rebel-held enclaves have also made it a major global source of high purity crystal meth," says the report titled Fire And Ice: Conflict And Drugs In Myanmar's Shan State. The report is only the latest in a string of studies and warnings in recent years, over the proliferation of meth from Shan state, whose drug industry has seen only growth. There have been record seizures of meth in the last two years beyond the immediate region - 1.2 tonnes in Western Australia, 0.9 tonnes in Melbourne, 1.6 tonnes in Indonesia, 1.2 tonnes in Malaysia. Experts estimate seizure rates at below 10 per cent of total trade, suggesting a total annual production significantly in excess of 250 tonnes, the ICG says. In the Mekong sub-region, the trade's total value is estimated at over US$40 billion (S$54 billion) a year..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "The Straits Times" (Singapore)
2019-01-09
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Topic: International Crisis Group, Shan State, methamphetamine, drugs, militiasTatmadaw, conflict, informal economy, Kutkai
Topic: International Crisis Group, Shan State, methamphetamine, drugs, militiasTatmadaw, conflict, informal economy, Kutkai
Description: "Illicit drug production in Shan State has become so large and profitable that it dwarfs the area’s formal economy and is hindering efforts to end ethnic conflicts, warns International Crisis Group. In a report that focuses heavily on Shan State’s emergence as a global production centre of crystal methamphetamine, or “ice”, ICG says the drugs trade is both partly a symptom of the state’s conflicts and an obstacle to sustainably ending them. It says “good infrastructure, proximity to precursor supplies from China and safe haven provided by pro-government militias and in rebel-held enclaves” had enabled the state to become a major global source of high purity crystal meth. The 36-page report, Fire and Ice: Conflict and Drugs in Myanmar’s Shan State, was released by the Brussels-based think tank on January 8. It says the drug trade in Shan State is at the centre of its political economy, which “greatly complicates efforts to resolve the area’s ethnic conflicts and undermines the prospects for better governance and inclusive economic growth in the state”. The drug trade in Shan State generates revenues for armed groups of all stripes, including militias aligned with the Tatmadaw. “Myanmar’s military, which has ultimate authority over militias and paramilitaries and profits from their activities, can only justify the existence of such groups in the context of the broader ethnic conflict of the state – so the military also has less incentive to end that conflict,” the report says. It says drug production in Shan State has had three main phases: opium and heroin from the 1950s to 1990s (when Myanmar was the largest opium producer before it was replaced by Afghanistan), followed by methamphetamines, also known as yaba, and then highly-addictive crystal meth since the early 2010s..."
Source/publisher: "Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
2019-01-08
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: UN report shows less land being used to grow opium poppies, but conflicts hampering eradication programme.
Description: "The amount of land being used to grow opium poppies continues to decline in Myanmar, but ongoing conflicts are hampering efforts to stamp out the trade at a time when the illicit drug economy is becoming increasingly diverse, according to a new United Nations report. Some 37,300 hectares of land in the country was under poppy cultivation last year, down from 41,000 in 2017, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said in its Myanmar Opium Survey 2018 on Friday. Nearly 90 percent of all the opium was grown in the northeastern Shan state, where government forces continue to battle ethnic rebels. "The biggest drops in cultivation have been seen in areas that have had relatively good security," the UNODC said..."
Source/publisher: "Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
2019-01-11
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "The first point to make for meth, which is the big growing problem for Myanmar, Myanmar does not produce any of the precursor chemicals, the chemicals that are needed to manufacture this. Most of these are coming from China; a few from other neighbouring countries of Myanmar. So there is also a responsibility of Myanmar’s neighbours to better control the flow of those precursor chemicals across the border into Myanmar. It is not just a Myanmar border control problem, it is also a China border control problem. And China, for example, has not been very effective at stopping the flow of those chemicals. It does not make regular seizures of illicit chemicals coming across the border, in fact, there has never been a major seizure of precursor chemicals by the Chinese border authorities as those chemicals cross the border. They do seize chemicals within China and Myanmar seizes chemicals within Myanmar but at the point of crossing there has never been a major seizure. That’s a big gap in law enforcement of this issue. So that is the first step, the precursor chemicals. But then the environment is Shan State is one where it is very difficult for the state to control. These criminal organizations that are involved in the production of these drugs choose locations for production which are difficult to reach, which are protected in some way by militia, by non-state army group, or by a general climate of impunity by paying people off so that they are not disturbed. So that is a problem of the armed conflict in Myanmar, it is also a problem of corruption. We know that these are very difficult issues for countries to address, and that is especially true given the scale of the problem. It is a multi-billion dollar industry. It is probably far larger in value than the entire legal economy of Shan State. So this is not a small problem it is a very large problem..."
Source/publisher: "Mizzima" (Myanmar)
2019-08-24
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Long-distance truck drivers, people working on fishing boats or those scavenging jade and gold mines are among those vulnerable to drug dependence in northern Myanmar. In the north of the country, where the reach of the central government is comparatively limited, workers may be partly paid in opium in recognition of the fact that their working lives are so benighted and subject to risk. As the demand for drugs is sustained, it is not surprising that the supply of drugs also remains strong. In the hilly areas of Kachin and Shan states, opium is grown as a second crop after rice by subsistence farmers. Those in the drug trade will then come to collect the crops from the farm gate at an agreed rate. This overcomes a significant problem of market access for farmers who lack access to roads as well as irrigation — for them, the prospect of obtaining substitute crops remains out of reach with significant government or NGO-led extension services unavailable in conflict areas. Despite attempts to hold talks that might yield peace, any real breakthrough seems to be far away. Opium is just one of many narcotics widely available throughout the country. A range of synthetic drugs such as methamphetamines are also manufactured and distributed across Myanmar. These too are associated with conflict regions — heroin is linked with cash-rich mining operations while amphetamines are used by the truck drivers and fishing workers. These manufactured items tend to be the preserve of organised gangs which the security forces can tackle by various means. Opium, though, remains the drug woven into the fabric of society. There is no doubt that the Tatmadaw, the Myanmar military force which generally acts for the government in the north of the country, would eliminate the drugs trade as it currently stands, not least because some of the proceeds continue to finance armed attempts at securing autonomy by various ethnic groups. In some cases, that means taking control of the trade — for years, the military has financed its own developmental schemes through drug money among other sources...."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "East Asia Forum" (Australia)
2019-09-21
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Description: "Myanmar authorities seized heroin and controlled Hydrochloric acid, Thionyl chloride acid in Kachin and Shan states, the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC) said on Friday. Heroin worth 244 million kyats (162,666 U.S. dollars) were confiscated from two cars travelling from Bhamo to Myitkyina in Waingmaw township, Kachin state on Thursday. Meanwhile, 360 buckets filled with 14,400 litres of Hydrochloric acid and 580 buckets filled with Thionyl chloride acid were confiscated from two 12-wheeled trucks by the security personnel during their operation in Mongyai town, Shan state on Wednesday. Local police filed a case for the captured suspects and an investigation was underway according to the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Law, the committee said in a statement..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Xinhua" (China)
2019-09-20
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-20
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Description: "Myanmar authorities seized more than 10 million meth pills worth $13.3 million over the weekend, police said Monday, another massive haul in a country widely believed to be the world's largest methamphetamine producer. High-grade crystal meth -- or 'ice' -- is smuggled out of Myanmar via sophisticated networks to lucrative developed markets as far away as Japan, South Korea and Australia. Lower-quality pills, cut with caffeine and known in the region as "yaba" or "crazy medicine", are pumped out to feed the voracious domestic market as well as large drug-addicted communities in nearby Thailand and Bangladesh. Two different busts took place in the west of the country at the weekend, state-run media said Monday, one in Magway region and one in Maungdaw in Rakhine state. "It's the biggest drugs seizure this year in the country and the biggest ever in Maungdaw region in Rakhine State," police colonel Win Ko Ko told AFP. The pills were likely destined for Bangladesh, where they have become an easy source of income for the Rohingya Muslim refugees who have poured across the border since a 2017 military crackdown. Most of the drug production, however, takes place on the other side of Myanmar, in conflict-ridden eastern Shan state..."
Source/publisher: "Mizzima" via AFP
2019-03-05
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-16
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Myanmar is caught in a conundrum as the government attempts to clean up the country’s illegal drugs trade. The country stands alongside Afghanistan as one of the top illegal drug producers in the world. And the illegal drug cartels have kept up with the times as they shifted the emphasis away from opium and heroin to the modern-day methamphetamines including the strong drug Ice. The fact that the Myanmar authorities are struggling to tackle this illegal trade comes down to the limited control Nay Pyi Taw has over the ethnic areas where the drugs are produced – primarily Shan and Kachin states – and the challenge of corruption and the state actors involved, as well as “men of influence” who benefit from the trade. But if real change is to come then Myanmar’s neighbours, China and Thailand, armed ethnic groups, and the international community need to join hands with Nay Pyi Taw to clamp down on the drug epidemic..."
Source/publisher: "Mizzima"
2019-08-17
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-16
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Southeast Asia's drug gangs are making over $60 billion a year pumping out record amounts of methamphetamine, then laundering the profits through the region's mushrooming number of casinos, a UN study showed Thursday. Crime groups are also piggybacking on improved infrastructure to hustle Made-In-Myanmar meth to neighbouring drug markets, and as far as Australia and Japan, the report said. The study, by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), warned this was sending street prices tumbling and spurring an addiction crisis. "(A) safe, conservative estimate of over $60 billion a year," is being hoovered up by the meth lords of Southeast Asia alone, Jeremy Douglas, the UNODC's regional representative, told reporters in Bangkok at the report's launch. Seizures of methamphetamine - both the caffeine-cut 'yaba' tablets and the much more addictive and potent crystal meth or 'ice' version - had tripled over the last five years, according to the report. Last year 120 tonnes (120,000 kilogrammes) of meth was seized in East and Southeast Asia, up from around 40 tonnes in 2013, the report said. The figures were based on drug seizure figures and regional police intelligence. Much of the meth is originating from the labs of remote and lawless Northern Shan State in Myanmar, which has rebooted the 'Golden Triangle' drug trade from its staple of heroin..."
Source/publisher: "Mizzima" via AFP
2019-07-19
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-16
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: " Myanmar police seized 12.97 kg of heroin in Myanmar’s Kachin state, the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC) said on Friday. Acting on tip-off, the seizure was made by the police in Mohnyin township. 1.43 kg of heroin worth 114.4 million kyats (76,266 U.S. dollars) were confiscated from a house in the township on Wednesday. Meanwhile, 11.54 kg of heroin worth 807.8 million kyats (538,533 U.S. dollars) were seized at another house in Mohnyin township on Thursday, in connection with Wednesday’s seizure, said the CCDAC's release. Three suspects were charged under the country’s Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Law..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Xinhua"
2019-09-13
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-13
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Myanmar authorities seized 42.5 kilograms of opium worth over 25.5 million kyats (17,000 U.S. dollars) in Shan state, according to the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC) on Wednesday. The seizure was made by a joint police force from a motorbike travelling from Aungban to Ywangan on Tuesday afternoon. On the same day, 246,500 stimulant tablets worth 739.5 million kyats (493,000 U.S. dollars) from a motorbike when it was intercepted on Lai Mhone road in Kale township, Sagaing region. Two suspects were charged in connection with the two cases under Myanmar's Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Law..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Xinhua"
2019-09-11
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-12
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Myanmar is the second-biggest producer of opium in the world after Afghanistan and is now believed to be the largest source of methamphetamine. In Shan state, heroin and meth use here are rampant and the region lies at the epicentre of Myanmar's drug crisis..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "AFP news agency"
2019-02-20
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-08
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: Ethnic armed group has leveraged ties to China to avoid conflict and build a prosperous nationalist state
Description: "The Wa, an autonomous ethnic minority living in the rugged hills of northeastern Myanmar, are open and clear that they have no intention to break away from the national union. The Wa Self-Administered Division, as their territory is officially known, is a self-governing buffer state between Myanmar and China with its own courts, schools, hospitals and even a modern TV news station. Besides the native Wa language, many speak Chinese while only a few are fluent in the country’s main Bamar language. The Chinese yuan, not the Myanmar kyat, is the currency of choice in shops and marketplaces. Mobile phones and the internet are linked to Chinese, not Myanmar, networks.The Wa state’s main city, Panghsang, also known as Pangkham, is a showcase of prosperity in the middle of a region stuck in conflict-ridden underdevelopment and poverty. And it is here that the fate of Myanmar’s hamstrung yet crucial peace process will most likely be decided. In the 1970s and 1980s, the area was controlled by the insurgent Communist Party of Burma (CPB). But, in 1989, the mostly Wa hill-tribe rank-and-file of its army mutinied and drove their orthodox Maoist Myanmar leaders into exile in China. Communism was purged and local Wa nationalism took its place..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Asia Times"
2019-09-06
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-07
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "The Myanmar military seized a massive haul of drugs and related materials used for refining narcotic drugs in Namsang township of Shan state, said a release from the Commander-in-Chief of the Defense Services Office on Saturday. The seizure was made by the servicemen during their security operations on two sites assumed to be the narcotic drug refining camps near Narpwe village, and Nawngpein village on Thursday and Friday respectively. The seized drugs included 4.5 kilograms of heroin powder and solid 18.14 kilograms of WY stimulant powder, 81,000 WY stimulant tablets, 20 gallons of black opium liquid and other related materials used in refining drugs. Tablet Making machines were also confiscated from 10 plastic tents near Narpwe village on Thursday afternoon. A total of 39 suspects who evaded from the camps were captured for further investigation on Friday morning. Meanwhile, 27 polyethylene bags filled with WY stimulant tablets, four tablet making machines and materials as well as some ammunition including grenades and others were also confiscated by the security forces near Nawngpein village on Friday..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Xinhua"
2019-08-24
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "For well over a century, Myanmar’s remote mountains and valleys have played a central role in the regional supply chains for illicit drugs. Initially, opium poppies were grown in Myanmar; later, high-purity heroin was produced to meet global demand. In more recent years, though, illicit drug production in Myanmar has increasingly moved from plant-based heroin to synthetics like methamphetamine. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime World drug report 2017 revealed that criminal groups operating in Myanmar have become significant players in the global production of synthetic drugs. It’s easy to blame the growing problem of synthetic drug production in Myanmar on ethnic insurgency groups like the United Wa State Army and Shan State Army. However, while these groups are far from innocent, the problem has much more to do with the globalisation of organised crime and the domestic drug policy of the Chinese government. A brief review of Myanmar’s 100-year connection with drug production can shed light on these relationships. Following the opium wars between China and Britain in the mid-1800s, the demand for opium in China seemed unquenchable. To be fair, the demand was created and then nurtured by the British forcing opium on China rather than by a deliberate Chinese government policy decision. Opium poppy quickly became a highly valuable cash crop for farmers in Myanmar’s remote hills and valleys. In 1901, the Chinese Qing Dynasty embarked on a program to suppress the production of opium. While the policy resulted in a reduction in the production of opium in Chinese territory, it drove greater demand for production in the Golden Triangle of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI)"
2019-08-21
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "If Myanmar is to break an addiction to methamphetamine production that has seen it become one of the world’s largest suppliers there is one country above all others that must act: China. That’s according to a report released on Tuesday that highlighted how complexities in the relationship between the two countries are being exploited by armed separatists who are producing thousands of tonnes of the drug in the “Golden Triangle” of Myanmar’s Shan state, an area that is already the world’s second-largest heroin-producing region. Chemicals used in the production of the drug have been flowing over the state’s border with China, according to the NGO International Crisis Group (ICG), which says China should take a tougher line against the drug-producing armed separatist groups seen as being under its influence. China has a complex relationship with the groups, many of which arose out of the splintering of the Communist Party of Burma and claim an ideological and cultural kinship with the People’s Republic of China. As Patrick Winn, an expert on organised crime in Southeast Asia, says: “You can see the fallout from the Chinese civil war written into the landscape of the drug trade today.”..."
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Source/publisher: "South China Morning Post"
2019-01-08
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-15
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: More than K900-million-worth of drugs was found in the fuel tank of a Ministry of Construction vehicle while it was being checked at a body shop in Nay Pyi Taw last Monday.
Description: "Police received a call that the drugs were found by Bayint Naung body shop at Bawga Thiri bus terminal. Police seized 89 bricks of heroin weighing about 350 grams each, or a total 30.15 kilograms, in the fuel tank, which had been divided into sections. A suspect, Kyan Yin Haung, was arrested in Kutkai township, Shan State, and the vehicle was confiscated. It had last been seen at the Ministry of Construction about 5 days before the arrest. Charges were filed against Kyan Yin Haung under Section 19(a) of the Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Law by Pyinmana township police. Deputy Police Colonel Kyi Soe of the Myanmar Police Force confirmed the drug seizure. “The car was seized in Kutkai regarding a drug case. The car could not hold much fuel, so its fuel tank was checked, and it was found that bricks of heroin had been stored on one side of the tank,” he said on Tuesday. There were three or four similar cases in the past, with some involving weapons, he said..."
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Source/publisher: "Myanmar Times"
2019-08-12
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-12
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "In Myanmar authorities are battling a deepening drugs crisis. This week police seized more than 10 million meth pills, with an estimated street value of almost 12 million euros. It's another massive seizure in a country thought to be the world's largest producer of methamphetamine. The northeastern Shan state is the epicenter of the country's meth production, with a network of local armed groups linking up with transnational trafficking gangs. Rampant drug use in Myanmar is sparking worries, as drug gangs push cheap pills to a growing number of addicts..."
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Source/publisher: DW News
2019-03-05
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-07
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: This Situation Update describes events that occurred in Win Yay, Kawkareik and Kyainseikgyi townships, Dooplaya District, between December 2018 and February 2019. These include human rights abuses such as school corporal punishment by a KECD teacher; thef
Description: "Access to the Karen Education and Culture Department’s (KECD)[3] education system has improved in Win Yay Township over the last few years, and most of the schools have started teaching Karen language already. However, some teachers don’t respect school hours or give heavy punishment to the students. In 2018, KECD primary school teacher Ma Tin Cho reportedly beat two students in H--- village, Kyainseikgyi Township, because they were not wearing Karen shirts. As a result, their parents stopped sending their children to this school, as one of them reported to KHRG: “Wewill send our children back toschool only when we can affordto buy them Karen shirts.” Therefore, they had to send their children to the closest Myanmar government school or to S--- village’s school, Chaung Hson village tract, Kyainseikgyi Township...On February 23rd and March 15th 2019, Tatmadaw soldiers came to the P--- resettlement site, Lay Wah Plo (Kyain Kyaung) village tract, Kyainseikgyi Township to check how many households and inhabitants there were in the village following the recent return of refugees from Thai camps. They also questioned locals about which organisations were operating there. That situation raised security concerns among returnees, as the Tatmadaw has a long history of perpetrating human rights violations against civilians in Southeast Myanmar.[5] The returnees also face livelihood difficulties. Since they were not given agricultural lands to work on, most are engaged in intermittent, casual work. They also do not feel safe because of there are have been some thefts in P---, and drug dealers also operate in the area..."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
2019-08-01
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: Special newsletter on why we don’t need another world drug day
Description: "Today marks the United Nations’ International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. Its origin can be traced back to the institutional architecture of the global drug control system which for the last five decades has served as a mechanism that regulates, controls, or prohibits the use and distribution of more than 300 psychoactive substances. Programmes Drugs & Democracy This is a republished version of one of TNI’s dedicated newsletters on drug policy issues, sent out to subscribers once a month. Click here if you wish to stay informed on TNI’s work on drugs and drug policy. The initial decision to dedicate this day to the global fight against drug abuse and illicit trafficking was surely a well-intentioned one. But the foundation upon which this international day is commemorated each year remains distant from realities on the ground. Though much has improved in the past decades, there is more work to be done in order to make sure that such an international instrument is utilised to enhance, and not to undermine, the well-being of communities around the globe. The annual Support. Don’t Punish campaign leads the world in this regard..."
Source/publisher: Transnational Institute (TNI) ( Netherlands)
2019-06-26
Date of entry/update: 2019-07-20
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "The East and South-East Asia region, which is home to about one-third of the global population, has one of the most established amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) markets in the world, primarily for methamphetamine. Since the late 1990s, the illicit manufacture, trafficking and use of ATS have expanded significantly in the region. These trends continued in 2010. The present report highlights the most current patterns and trends of amphetamine-type stimulants and other drugs of use in East and South-East Asia and provides overviews for the neighbouring regions of South Asia and the Pacific. This is the latest in a series of reports prepared under the Global Synthetics Monitoring: Analyses, Reporting and Trends (SMART) Programme. The objective of the Global SMART Programme is to enhance the capacity of Member States and relevant authorities to generate, manage, analyse, report and use synthetic drug information, in order to design effective, scientifically-sound and evidencebased policies and programmes. The findings of the report are based on primary information submitted by the drug control agencies and designated institutions in Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam, via the Drug Use Information Network for Asia and the Pacific (DAINAP) established through the Global SMART Programme. Information from DAINAP is supplemented with data from other Government sources such as national reports, the Annual Reports Questionnaire, and through primary and secondary research. Australia, Japan, New Zealand and Republic of Korea also provided data to the Global SMART Programme for this report. All 15 countries that contributed to this report reported significant levels of ATS use. In several of those countries, ATS drugs, particularly methamphetamine (in pill or crystalline form), have emerged as the primary drug threat in recent years, in some cases displacing traditionally used plant-based drugs such as heroin, opium or cannabis. It is estimated that between 3.5 and 20.9 million persons in East and South-East Asia have used amphetamines in the past year..."
Source/publisher: UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime)
2011-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2019-07-08
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Format : pdf
Size: 9.34 MB
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Sub-title: Report on Operations in 2011 and Future Prospects
Description: Four new Border Liaison Offices (BLOs) were established on the border between Cambodia and Viet Nam, with an expanded mandate to deal with all forms of crossborder trafficking and smuggling (not just drugs). Twelve other existing BLOs have been identified for mandate expansion, in the same two countries, beyond their current focus on drug control. Multi-agency national committees were established in Cambodia and Viet Nam to oversee the work of the new-style BLOs, demonstrating national commitment to improving cooperation between agencies dealing with different types of cross-border crime (including drugs, smuggling of people, natural resources and hazardous goods). Collection and sharing of regional data concerning production, smuggling, and use of Amphetamine Type Stimulants (ATS) and other drugs through the SMART programme continues to improve year after year. There is clear evidence to show that the data is being used in the region to help inform policy making. New Global e-Learning products (also known as Computer Based Training) were developed. New training modules for Smuggling of Migrants, Trafficking in Persons, Wildlife Crime and Human Rights are now in production. Access to information on migrant smuggling in the region (in support of the Bali Process) continues to improve with UNODC support. Research papers have been produced and steady progress is being made towards establishing a regional voluntary reporting system on migrant smuggling. In Indonesia, capacities of stakeholder institutions, NGOs and communities have been strengthened in Papua Province to help combat illegal logging and the illicit trade in forest products. Background research on child-sex tourism in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Viet Nam has been largely completed, in preparation for the implementation of ‘Project Childhood’ in collaboration with INTERPOL. This has included legislative review/gap analysis, institutional profiling and a review of current training programmes for law enforcement officials on combatting child-sex tourism. The need for improved national mechanisms and enhanced cross-border cooperation to support victims of human trafficking has been effectively advocated, based on preliminary research and dialogue with senior government officials in Cambodia and Thailand.
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime)
2012-04-00
Date of entry/update: 2019-07-08
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 982.22 KB
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Description: "The Lao PDR Opium Survey 2011 was undertaken and produced by the Government of Lao PDR and UNODC. From 2005 to 2011, the survey methodology has consisted of an aerial survey by helicopter covering sample sites in opium poppy producing provinces in northern Lao PDR. Like in 2010, the survey focused on four Provinces (Phongsaly, Houaphan Luang Namtha and Xieng Khouang). Observations show that the poppy cultivation was concentrated in two of these provinces, namely Phongsaly and Houaphan. Cultivation in Luang Namtha and Xieng Khouang had become marginal in the past years, however, in 2011 some large concentrations were spotted in Luang Namtha. Although no survey took place in Oudomxay province, the survey team received information that some poppy was growing again in the North of this province. Opium poppy cultivation In 2011, opium poppy cultivation was found in all of the four surveyed provinces. The total area under opium poppy cultivation in the Lao PDR expanded to 4,100 hectares in 2011 (an increase of 38% from 2010) with a confidence interval from 2,500 ha to 6,000 ha. In spite of this increase, the overall level of opium poppy cultivation in the country remains low compared to a decade ago. Following the trend noticed over the last two years, more fields are gathered in strings covering the mountainsides around the villages, which might indicate that cultivation is becoming more common..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime)
2011-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2019-07-08
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 4.81 MB
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Description: "Chapter I of this year’s World Drug Report provides an overview of recent trends and the drug situation in terms of production, trafficking and consumption and the consequences of illicit drug use in terms of treatment, drugrelated diseases and drug-related deaths. Chapter II presents a long-term perspective on the characteristics and evolution of the drug problem and the main factors that shaped it. It starts with a discussion of the main characteristics of the contemporary drug problem, followed by an overview of the shifts observed over the last few de cades, before concluding with an analysis of the driving factors that shaped the evolution of the drug problem, including a brief outlook for its likely future direction. CHAPTER I. RECENT STATISTICS AND TREND ANALYSIS OF ILLICIT DRUG MARKETS Latest available data indicate that there has been no significant change in the global status quo regarding the use, production and health consequences of illicit drugs, other than the return to high levels of opium production in Afghanistan after a disease of the opium poppy and subsequent crop failure in 2010. But while the troubled waters of the world’s illicit drug markets may appear to be stagnant, shifts and changes in their flows and currents can be observed below the surface. These are significant and also worrying, not because of how they currently impact on the data but because they are proof of the resilience and adaptability of illicit drug suppliers and users and because of the potential future repercussions of those shifts and changes in the world’s major drug markets. The global picture The extent of global illicit drug use remained stable in the five years up to and including 2010, at between 3.4 and 6.6 per cent of the adult population (persons aged 15-64). However, some 10-13 per cent of drug users continue to be problem users with drug dependence and/or drug-use disorders, the prevalence of HIV (estimated at approximately 20 per cent), hepatitis C (46.7 per cent) and hepatitis B (14.6 per cent) among injecting drug users continues to add to the global burden of disease, and, last but not least, approximately 1 in every 100 deaths among adults is attributed to illicit drug use. Opioids continue to be the dominant drug type accounting for treatment demand in Asia and Europe and also contribute considerably to treatment demand in Africa, North America and Oceania. Treatment for cocaine use is mainly associated with the Americas, while cannabis is the main drug causing treatment demand in Africa. Demand for treatment relating to the use of amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) is most common in Asia..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime)
2012-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2019-07-08
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 12.33 MB
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Description: "Amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) are the second most widely used class of drugs worldwide, after cannabis. The East and South-East Asia region, which is home to about one-third of the global population, has some of the largest and most established ATS markets in the world. Methamphetamine in pill, powder and crystalline forms are the most widely used forms of ATS in the region. Demand for ecstasy remains high, although its use has declined. Since the late 1990s, the illicit manufacture, trafficking and use of ATS have expanded significantly in the region. These trends continued in 2011. The present report highlights the most current patterns and trends of amphetamine-type stimulants and other drugs of use in East and South-East Asia and provides overviews for the neighbouring regions of South Asia and the Pacific. This is the latest in a series of reports prepared under the Global Synthetics Monitoring: Analyses, Reporting and Trends (SMART) Programme. The objective of the Global SMART Programme is to enhance the capacity of Member States and relevant authorities to generate, manage, analyse, report and use synthetic drug information, in order to design effective, scientifically-sound and evidencebased policies and programmes. The findings of the report are based on primary information submitted by the drug control agencies and designated institutions in Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam, via the Drug Abuse Information Network for Asia and the Pacific (DAINAP) established through the Global SMART Programme. Information from DAINAP is supplemented with data from other Government sources such as national reports, the Annual Reports Questionnaire, and through primary and secondary research. Australia, Japan, New Zealand and Republic of Korea also provided data to the Global SMART Programme for this report..."
Source/publisher: UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime)
2012-12-00
Date of entry/update: 2019-07-07
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 1.39 MB
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Description: "Migrant Smuggling in Asia: A !ematic Review of Literature and the accompanying annotated bibliography o#er a consolidation of !ndings contained in research literature that analyses migrant smuggling in Asia either directly or indirectly. !e review of the available body of empirical knowledge aimed to create an information base and identify the gaps in what is known about the smuggling of migrants around and out of the region. By consolidating the information currently accessible on migrant smuggling, the !ematic Review of Literature looks to stimulate and guide further research that will contribute to informing evidencebased policies to prevent and combat the smuggling of migrants while upholding and protecting the rights of those who are smuggled. "e United Nations O$ce on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) conducted the research in support of the Bali Process, which is a regional, multilateral process to improve cooperation against migrant smuggling, tra$cking in persons and related forms of transnational crime. !e systematic search for research literature in English, French and German covered an eight-year period (1 January 2004 to 31 March 2011) and 14 countries (Afghanistan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, "ailand and Viet Nam). Primary research, such as the collection of statistics from national authorities, was not part of the project. "e project began with a search of 44 databases, one meta-library catalogue, three institution-speci!c library catalogues and 39 websites of institutions that work on migrant smuggling. "is resulted in 845 documents that were then closely reviewed against a set of further elaborated criteria. Ultimately, 154 documents were critically reviewed and formed the basis of this report. Abstracts of those documents are provided in Migrant Smuggling in Asia: An Annotated Bibliography. "e systematic search also included literature regarding irregular migration and human tra$cking &ows not only because migrant smuggling takes place within irregular migration but to learn more about the relationship between migrant smuggling, irregular migration and human tra"cking. A highly fragmented information base: Knowledge gaps prevail Of the 154 documents reviewed, 75 of them provided information about migrant smuggling, 117 provided information about irregular migration and 66 provided information about human tra$cking. Keeping in mind that some countries within the research scope are major sources of migrant smuggling and irregular migration, these !gures illustrate that migrant smuggling has not attracted a critical amount of attention within the research community. Accurate data on the extent of migrant smuggling either rarely exists or could not be accessed by researchers. "e reviewed literature re&ects the paucity of and/or shortcomings in o$cial quantitative data in many countries and the di$culties in accessing data that would allow a better grasp of both the extent of irregular migration and to what extent irregular migration is facilitated by migrant smugglers. !e available research literature on irregular migration contributes only in a limited way to increasing the understanding of migrant smuggling due to a lack of clarity with the terminology. Common is the use of terms that are not further de!ned, such as “illegal migrant”, “broker”, “agent” and “recruiter”. "is ambiguity signi!cantly has limited the capacity of the literature on irregular migration to clarify to what extent migrant smugglers facilitate irregular migration and how..."
Source/publisher: UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime)
2012-08-00
Date of entry/update: 2019-07-07
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 2.15 MB
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Description: "The market for amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) in the Asia and the Pacific region continued to expand in 2012. Seizures of methamphetamine in pill and crystalline forms reached record highs while methamphetamine use increased in most countries in East and Southeast Asia, according to government expert perception. Illicit methamphetamine manufacture continued to spread throughout the region and new markets emerged for a variety of other synthetic substances. Ecstasy use, which had been in decline over the past several years, increased in a number of countries in 2012 while ecstasy seizures more than tripled compared with the previous year. Moreover, the range of new psychoactive substances (NPS) found in the region continued to increase. This report highlights the most current patterns and trends of amphetamine-type stimulants and other drugs of use in East and Southeast Asia and provides overviews for the neighbouring regions of South Asia and the Pacific Island States and Territories. This is the latest in a series of reports prepared under the Global Synthetics Monitoring: Analyses, Reporting and Trends (SMART) Programme. The Programme seeks to enhance the capacity of Member States and authorities in priority regions to generate, manage, analyse and report synthetic drug information, and to apply this scientific evidence-based knowledge to design effective responses. A primary objective of this report is to help in improving the ability of states to respond to the growing human security and public health threats posed by the illicit manufacture, trafficking and use of synthetic drugs in the Asia and the Pacific region. The findings of this report are based on primary information submitted by the drug control agencies and designated institutions in Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam, via the Drug Abuse Information Network for Asia and the Pacific (DAINAP) established through the Global SMART Programme. Information from DAINAP is supplemented with data from other government sources such as national reports, the UNODC Annual Reports Questionnaire, and through primary and secondary research. Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the Republic of Korea also provided data to the Global SMART Programme for this report..."
Source/publisher: UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime)
2013-11-00
Date of entry/update: 2019-07-07
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 4.6 MB
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Sub-title: Promoting the rule of law and health to address drugs and crime in Southeast Asia
Description: "This Regional Programme (RP) document outlines the proposed scope and focus of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) work in Southeast Asia2 from 2014 to 2017, to be carried out by UNODC, under the lead of the Regional Office for Southeast Asia and the Pacific based in Bangkok (ROSEAP), making effective use of expertise and infrastructure available in UNODC Headquarters, as well as the UNODC field office network in Southeast Asia3 . A strong emphasis will be placed on pursuing cooperation with relevant regional partnership mechanisms and frameworks such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Greater Mekong Sub-region Memorandum of Understanding on Drug Control. The RP outlines the framework for delivering a coherent programme of work, and aims to:  Give clear focus to supporting Member States in achieving priority drugs and crime outcomes in the region; and  Increase the responsiveness, efficiency and effectiveness of UNODC’s support to the region. The proposed programme of work has been developed in close consultation with countries of the region and other regional partners, and the situation analysis includes:  A profile of UNODC’s global strategy, governing bodies and mandates  A brief description of the broad regional development context  An overview of the key drugs and crime challenges facing the region. Particular attention is given to: (i) transnational organised crime and illicit trafficking; (ii) anti-corruption; (iii) terrorism prevention; (iv) criminal justice; and (v) drugs and health, and alternative development  A profile of regional institutions and initiatives relevant to UNODC’s mandates and work  A profile of UNODC in the region, including past and current activities, key partners and lessons learned from implementation of the previous UNODC Regional Progamme Framework..."
Source/publisher: UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime)
2013-11-06
Date of entry/update: 2019-07-07
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
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Description: "While the area under poppy cultivation in Myanmar increased by 13% in 2013, the number of households growing poppy remained roughly the same, as farmers on average dedicated a larger portion of their land to poppy cultivation than in 2012. The average area of poppy per opium growing household more than doubled from 0.17 hectares in 2002/2003 to 0.43 hectares in 2013. This implies a larger dependency of those households on opium. Furthermore, the Myanmar survey found that many households not only earn income from the cultivation of opium poppy on their own land, but also by labouring in the poppy fields of other farmers. Alternative development projects thus need to address both of these groups, as a reduction in poppy cultivation for many households means the loss of an opportunity to generate income from poppy-related wage labour. There is a strong link between poverty and poppy cultivation. In poppy-growing villages in Myanmar, significantly higher proportions of households are in debt and are exposed to food insecurity than in non-poppy-growing villages. Furthermore, households in poppy-growing villages on average suffer longer from food insecurity than households in non-growing villages. Thus, in poppy-growing villages, opium cultivation seems to be a means to earn cash income in order to purchase food in months when households’ food resources have been depleted. In other words, poppy farmers try to compensate for a lack of alternatives in their opportunities for earning income in order to subsist. Income patterns in poppy-growing and non-poppy growing villages in Myanmar are complex and differ in much more than just poppy cultivation. Despite indicators of greater vulnerability (as seen in higher levels of debt, food insecurity and drug use), households in poppy-growing villages in all regions, with the exception of East Shan, had a higher average income than those in nonpoppy-growing villages. On the other hand, households in non-poppy-growing villages had better access to salaried jobs and petty trade. In Lao PDR, no socio-economic survey of poppy-growing villages was conducted in recent years. The data from the helicopter flights and satellite image analysis indicated that poppy cultivation continued to be a phenomenon linked to villages in peripheral, difficult to access locations, far from population and market centres. Risks and opportunities associated with different income patterns in poppy-growing and nonpoppy growing villages need to be investigated in more detail in Myanmar but also in Lao PDR to understand how livelihood risks can be reduced and the resilience of households can be improved in the context of efforts to contain and reduce households’ dependence on poppy cultivation..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime)
2013-06-12
Date of entry/update: 2019-07-07
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 6.94 MB
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Sub-title: Trends and Patterns of Amphetamine-type Stimulants and New Psychoactive Substances
Description: "This report analyses recent trends and developments of the synthetic drugs market in East and South-East Asia and Oceania, comprising both amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) and new psychoactive substances (NPS). NPS are substances of abuse that are not controlled by the International Drug Conventions but which may pose a public health threat. In this context, the term ‘new’ does not necessarily refer to new inventions but to substances that have recently become available.1 East and South-East Asia and Oceania has the largest ATS market in the world and in recent years the scope and availability of NPS has rapidly expanded. Moreover, this synthetic drugs market is becoming more complex and interconnected with other regions. These developments warrant an in-depth study to understand the current threat and impact of ATS and NPS in East and South-East Asia and Oceania within a global context. The analysis of the synthetic drug problem in the region is essential to complement the understanding of the illicit market for synthetic drugs called for in the 2009 Political Declaration and Plan of Action on International Cooperation towards an Integrated and Balanced Strategy to Counter the World Drug Problem. The availability of quality data and information-sharing in the region has improved with the support of the Drug Abuse Information Network for Asia and the Pacific (DAINAP), which offers a regional control mechanism for drug monitoring.2 However, the quality of data and information on some aspects of the synthetic drugs market remains limited. Particularly, demand-related data on the extent and pattern of use, and treatment remains scarce. And yet, methamphetamine and other synthetic drugs that pose a serious health threat to users seem to become increasingly available and are a challenge for health care providers and drug control authorities. Challenges in reducing the supply and demand for synthetic drugs Methamphetamine continues to dominate the synthetic drugs market in East and South-East Asia and is mainly available in two forms: methamphetamine tablets and crystalline methamphetamine. Increasing methamphetamine seizures and expert perception of high levels of methamphetamine tablet and crystalline methamphetamine use indicate the presence of a large and possibly expanding market in East and South-East Asia.3 For some years, the “ecstasy”4 market has been concentrated in parts of Oceania. Recently, according to expert perception, there is an emerging “ecstasy” market in parts of East and South-East Asia with use reported in Indonesia and countries in the Mekong sub-region.5 Addressing the trafficking of synthetic drugs in East and South-East Asia involves a number of difficulties. Over the last several years, countries in East and South-East Asia and Oceania have experienced rapid economic expansion. For instance, the share of the regions’ global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) based on purchasingpower-parity (PPP), is estimated to have increased from about 10 per cent in 2000 to over 30 per cent in 2014 at a value of more than US$ 28 trillion.6 Except for a sharp drop in 2009, exports and imports to and from countries in East and South-East Asia and Oceania have also significantly increased over the years. Between 2002 and 2013, imports and exports more than tripled to more than US$ 6.5 trillion and 6.9 US$ trillion respectively..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime)
2015-05-00
Date of entry/update: 2019-07-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 9.34 MB 2.78 MB
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Description: "This report outlines the need to strengthen links between Southeast Asia’s economic integration agenda and its security agenda. The region is committed to rapidly developing economic connections but attention is lagging towards the security impacts that accompany these developments. Regional integration expands licit economic opportunities, but illicit markets tend to develop at the same time. Where cross-border infrastructure and trade facilitation initiatives are expanding, organised crime groups have demonstrated the capacity to seize new opportunities to expand cross-border crime. ASEAN member states have committed to expand the regional economic market through far-reaching fast moving integration. Physical and non-physical barriers are being removed to ensure more practical and efficient border crossings for people, goods and money. This process is accompanied by a number of infrastructure initiatives that will enhance connectivity between trading partners and increase access to previously remote areas. For trade and infrastructure planners, the dominant concept of border management is shifting from ‘control’ to ‘facilitation’. However, the positive effects of economic growth need to be safeguarded by making trade, migration, and sensitive areas more secure. The expected growth of cross-border trade and migration calls for novel measures to monitor and secure the people and goods moving internationally. This requires robust and streamlined procedures; law enforcement and security agencies will need to work closely with trade and infrastructure planners and developers. Currently, the ASEAN institutional agenda for countering transnational crime is not moving at the same speed as the trade and migration side of the integration agenda.1 This report provides a brief overview of economic integration and infrastructure plans and initiatives intended to connect the ASEAN region internally and with other regions, particularly neighbouring India and China. It begins by analysing relevant trade agreements and progress in expanding transport networks around the region and connections to other regions. The analysis includes observations on where the risks for negative social and environmental impacts are high. Following that, there are four sections that provide a non-exhaustive overview of sub-regions with pronounced transnational crime challenges. Recent increases in the trafficking of drugs and precursor chemicals, humans, and counterfeit goods, as well as environmental crimes, warrant special attention in managing international flows in these geographic areas. Projections of future threats underline the importance of taking action now..."
Source/publisher: UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime)
2016-02-00
Date of entry/update: 2019-07-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 1.94 MB
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Description: "This report presents major threats posed by transnational organized crime in the Pacific region, mainly focusing on the Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs). Based on consultations with the Pacific Island Forum Secretariat (PIFS) and information obtained from desk reviews conducted by UNODC, this report focuses on four major types of transnational organized crime affecting the Pacific region: • Drug and precursor trafficking; • Trafficking in persons & smuggling of migrants; • Environmental crimes (fishery crime and other wildlife trafficking & illegal logging and timber trafficking); and • Small arms trafficking. In addition to the major four types of transnational crime, the report also includes some information on the trafficking of counterfeit goods, including fraudulent medicines, and cybercrime to shed light on emerging threats in the region. The four major illicit flows discussed in the report are different sorts of illicit activities, yet they all pose immense challenges to the region. There are strong indications that the PICTs are increasingly targeted by transnational organized crime groups due to their susceptibility to illicit flows driven by several factors. These include (a) the geographical location of the PICTs situated between major sources and destinations of illicit commodities; (b) extensive and porous jurisdictional boundaries; and (c) differences in governance and heterogeneity in general law enforcement capacity across numerous PICTs and the region in general. These complexities also underscore the inherent difficulties in detecting, monitoring, preventing and responding to transnational organized crimes in the region. In this context, transnational criminal activities continue to increase throughout the Pacific and have detrimental impacts on communities, sustainable economic development and regional security. At a regional level and across all transnational organized crime types discussed in this report, a fundamental problem is the significant gaps in data and information related to transnational crime among the PICTs. This is a major hindrance in developing effective and evidence-based responses to transnational organized crime..."
Source/publisher: UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime)
2016-09-00
Date of entry/update: 2019-07-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 4.1 MB
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Description: "This working paper (the Paper) aims to contribute to greater consistency in the approaches to alternative development (AD) and related practices in Southeast Asia, and particularly, among the countries of the 1993 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Drug Control in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS). Although some reviews of alternative development in the GMS have been written, most have been countryspecific with a focus on Thailand. Accordingly, there have been very limited comparative studies of alternative development processes across all the countries in the GMS. Similarly, there is a shortage of studies and analysis that delineate what practices, methods and approaches have worked best in the region. At the MOU Senior Official Committee (SOC) and Ministerial meetings held in Ha Noi, Viet Nam from 19 to 21 May 2015, the MOU countries identified this as a critical gap. It was also highlighted that there were differing approaches, with subsequently varying practices, to alternative development currently being implemented in the GMS and this was hampering collective efforts. The MOU countries agreed that in order to better address persistent challenges related to illicit crop cultivation, there was a need to achieve greater consistency and regional synergy in alternative development approaches in the Subregion. This could be achieved through the sharing of best practices and experiences, and identification of what works..."
Source/publisher: UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime)
2015-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2019-07-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 4.24 MB
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Topic: Trends and Patterns of Amphetamine-type Stimulants and New Psychoactive Substances
Sub-title: A Report from the Global SMART Programme June 2017
Topic: Trends and Patterns of Amphetamine-type Stimulants and New Psychoactive Substances
Description: "There is no sign of respite in the expansion of the methamphetamine market in East and South-East Asia. Seizures of both forms of methamphetamine - tablets and crystalline - reached record highs in 2015, and most countries in the region noted increasing use of methamphetamine. • Both the number and the scale of illicit methamphetamine manufacture facilities continue to increase to meet the rapidly rising demand for methamphetamine in the region. In 2015, approximately 630 illicit synthetic drug manufacturing facilities were dismantled in the region. Of these, the majority were methamphetamine manufacturing facilities. • The retail prices of crystalline methamphetamine in countries in East and South-East Asia are high, and might be a key driver for intensified intra-regional and inter-regional methamphetamine trafficking. • Substantial quantities of precursor chemicals, which can be used for manufacture of methamphetamine, have been seized in the region with recent trends indicating a diversification of precursors and methods used. • Tablets sold as “ecstasy” in the region contain various substances other than MDMA, including new psychoactive substances (NPS). • The production of opiates in the region has been relatively stable between 2013 and 2015 but remains at a comparatively high level. Heroin trafficking and use remains a key concern in the region. • A wide range of new psychoactive substances have been identified in East and South-East Asia. These include potent synthetic opioids, such as derivatives of fentanyl , which have been implicated in the ongoing opioid overdose crisis in North America..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime)
2017-06-00
Date of entry/update: 2019-07-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 2.9 MB
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Description: "In 2017, the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC) of the Myanmar Police Force of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar collaborated for the 15th time with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to implement an opium survey. 2016 and 2017 surveys focused on different aspects of opium production: in 2016, the survey focused on the socio‐economic conditions of farmers in opium growing areas (https://www.unodc.org/ documents/crop‐monitoring/sea/2016_Myanmar_Shan_Opium_Poppy_web.pdf)1 , and in 2017 on estimating the extent of poppy cultivation and opium production. The area and production survey in 2017 has focused on major opium producing states, Shan and Kachin2 . In addition, a selective sampling rate has been applied for the collection of the satellite imagery, using an approach that guarantees comparability with 2015 results. The 2017 opium survey estimates that 41,000 ha of opium poppy has been cultivated in Shan and Kachin States. Compared to the 2015 estimate, this represents a 25% decrease. Reductions have taken place in East and South Shan (‐37% and ‐29% respectively), whereas in North Shan and Kachin States the cultivation remained practically stable (‐3% and ‐7%). Continued turmoil in North Shan and Kachin appear to be linked to the steady cultivation levels. The reported amount of eradication has also been very low in these two states (less than 130 ha), whereas the large majority (85%) of the total eradication (3,533 ha) has been reported from South Shan. In terms of opium production, part of the area reduction has been offset by an increase in yields per hectare in South Shan, which have risen by 43% to 14.2 kg/ha. Combined with the reduced cultivation areas, this resulted in a 14% decrease of potential dry opium production in Shan and Kachin states. In 2017, South Shan state remains the largest opium producer supplying almost half (43%) of the total estimated potential production of 550 metric tons. Cultivation, eradication and drug seizure figures showed similar trends in the past eight years, showing increases from 2010 to 2012‐2014 and decreasing slightly since then. These trends, in combination with declining opium prices and anecdotal evidence of reduced trafficking suggest that the demand for opium and heroin has decreased. These trends will be further researched in the upcoming remote sensing survey and a new village survey, which the Government of the Union of Myanmar and UNODC are currently preparing for the 2018 opium poppy season..."
Source/publisher: UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime)
2017-12-00
Date of entry/update: 2019-07-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 4.33 MB
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Description: "The Government of Myanmar convened a special national conference to mark the 29th International Day against Drug Use and Illicit Trafficking in Nay Pyi Taw today, with speeches, displays and activities highlighting the impact of drugs on the health and security of the country and surrounding region. Attended by the Vice President, Minister of Home Affairs, Minister of Health, dozens of senior officials, UNODC regional leadership and experts, diplomats and media, the event featured findings of the 2017 World Drug Report and the latest regional and national data, along with discussions about strategies and plans to address the situation. The conference is part of an ongoing effort of the Government of Myanmar to reconsider the situation and solutions given the significance of the drug problem in the country. Opium poppy cultivation in the Golden Triangle has levelled off after tripling over the last decade, with production mainly concentrated in Shan State but with some production also in Kachin and parts of Chin State. At the same time methamphetamine production and trafficking continues on an upward trajectory mirroring the expansion and diversification of illicit drug markets in Southeast Asia..."
Source/publisher: UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime)
2017-06-26
Date of entry/update: 2019-06-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "High-level delegations from East, South and Southeast Asia are in the capital of Myanmar, Nay Pyi Taw, to consider the deteriorating synthetic drug situation in the region and negotiate a new strategy to address the diversion and trafficking of precursor chemicals used in production. "We are very pleased these discussions are underway", remarked Myanmar Vice Minister of Home Affairs Major General Aung Thu. He continued, "we put ourselves forward to co-host at the last Mekong MOU negotiations, and we reminded the region that precursors are required for synthetic drug production to continue to go up. While we are a significant source of illicit drugs, we are not a source of the chemicals." Methamphetamine production and trafficking in the region has reached alarming levels in recent years, with seizures to-date in 2018 already exceeding records set in 2017. Supply from the Golden Triangle vastly exceeds market demand in the surrounding Mekong region and Southeast Asia, and it is a primary source of supply for Australia, Japan, Korea and New Zealand. The oversupply of methamphetamine has led to declining street prices across the region, with yaba tablets now available for $1-$5 USD down from $5 -$15 USD in 2014. A similar decline in the price of crystal methamphetamine has taken place across region, making both forms of the drug more affordable and accessible. At the same time, powerful synthetic opioids like fentanyl are being produced, diverted and trafficked in and from the region to North America and recently Australia, where they are being mixed into the opiate and heroin markets to maximise profits. Significant illicit production of ketamine has also been found in the Golden Triangle, primarily for export to China and Thailand, and it is increasingly being trafficked across the region in mixed shipments with methamphetamine..."
Source/publisher: UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime)
2018-11-07
Date of entry/update: 2019-06-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "The total area of opium poppy cultivation in Myanmar has decreased significantly in 2017 to 41,000 hectares, down 25% from the 55,500 recorded in 2015, according to the Myanmar Opium Survey 2017 released today by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Reductions have been most significant in East Shan with a drop of 37% and South Shan with a drop of 29%. However, the report also reveals that while progress has been made, North Shan and Kachin states have seen reductions of less than 3% and 7%, which on the ground amounts to a decrease of only 600 hectares in total. Reductions in cultivation have been somewhat offset by a greater yield per hectare with potential opium production dropping 14% from 2015 levels. The report reconfirms the link between conflict and opium in Myanmar, and that insecure areas with active insurgencies continue to cultivate and produce at levels similar to 2015. Jeremy Douglas, UNODC Regional Representative, noted that "the connection between governance and security on the one hand and poverty and conflict on the other is undeniable. We will continue to assist the transition from a dependence on opium to alternative and sustainable economic opportunities. But it cannot be done in isolation from the peace process, and we will need access to additional territory."..."
Source/publisher: UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime)
2017-12-06
Date of entry/update: 2019-06-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Drug agency leaders from the Mekong region - Cambodia, China, Lao, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam - alongside UNODC, are visiting remote, mountainous areas around Taunggyi and Hopong of Shan State, Myanmar for two days to meet with former and current opium growing farmers and villages. The visit has been arranged to connect senior regional policymakers with opium farming communities, to understand the challenges they face and to discuss programmes that can provide alternate sources of income. The Mekong leaders are considering how to support and scale-up so-called alternative development or AD programmes, and, as a result, UNODC and the Government of Myanmar arranged the trip to see the area, living conditions in local communities and the impacts of AD programmes first-hand. "Talking directly with the farmers and those involved in the projects has been important", said China National Narcotics Control Commission (NNCC) Deputy Secretary General Wei Xiaojun. "Conditions in the communities have improved significantly since they moved away from growing opium, and we have appreciated listening to farmers discuss the benefits and challenges they have faced to make these projects a success. We are committed to seeing alternative development succeed, and hopefully to expand, here in Shan, Myanmar." He added, "China is considering further support to UNODC so that these efforts become more widely known and so more projects can happen here and in Laos. We encourage other international partners to invest in UNODC programmes that benefit the Mekong region like this..."
Source/publisher: UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime)
2018-05-24
Date of entry/update: 2019-06-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Senior drug policy leaders from the Mekong region -Cambodia, China, Lao, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam- are in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) this week for a conference of the Mekong MOU on Drug Control to discuss the illicit drug situation in the region, and to negotiate a new strategic plan. The conference brings together the leadership of Mekong drug authorities and over 100 senior delegates and experts to consider the latest data, and for detailed discussions on drug law enforcement, justice, health and alternative development strategies and programmes, while reviewing the implementation of the last Mekong strategy that the countries agreed. "Illicit drug challenges are not only a national issue, and to ensure our recently announced drug policy succeeds we need to focus on the situation and implementation including with regional partners" said Myanmar Deputy Home Minister Major General Aung Soe. "This meeting is a step forward, allowing us to discuss issues and priorities with our neighbours and UNODC, including improving law enforcement cooperation and standards for community based drug treatment." He added, "A top priority for us (Myanmar) is a regional precursor strategy that will slow the supply of chemicals and pharmaceutical products into drug producing areas of the Golden Triangle." The Mekong has long been associated with the production and trafficking of illicit drugs, particularly heroin, but has undergone significant transformation in recent years. Opium and heroin production have recently declined, while organized crime have intensified production and trafficking of both low grade yaba methamphetamine and high purity crystal methamphetamine to alarming levels - several Mekong countries have already surpassed 2017 seizure totals only a few months into 2018, and Golden Triangle methamphetamine is being seized in high volumes in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Malaysia, Indonesia. The shift to synthetics like methamphetamine is particularly difficult for countries to address due to the complexity of responding to remote and clandestine production that can be moved, but also due to the health impacts on drug users..."
Source/publisher: UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime)
2018-05-21
Date of entry/update: 2019-06-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "The area of opium poppy cultivation in Myanmar dropped to 37,300 hectares (ha) in 2018, down 10% from the 41,000 ha recorded in 2017, according to the Myanmar Opium Survey 2018 released today by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Reductions in cultivation have taken place in practically all regions, but have been most significant in South Shan with a decline of 17% and Kachin State with a decline of 15%, followed by East Shan and North Shan declining 8% and 7%. With an average yield of 14 kg per ha in 2018 total opium production dropped from 550 to 520 metric tons, equivalent to approximately 53 tons of heroin destined for the domestic and regional drug markets. The report reconfirms the link between conflict and opium in Myanmar, with the highest levels of cultivation continuing to take place in unstable areas of Shan and Kachin states. Troel Vester, UNODC Country Manager, noted that "entrenched poverty and opium cultivation in Myanmar are closely connected..."
Source/publisher: UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime)
2019-01-11
Date of entry/update: 2019-06-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 5.34 MB
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Description: "During 8-10 May 2019, representatives from Kayan, Kayah, Pa-O, Shan, Lahu and Kachin opium farming communities came together to discuss their challenges in life and find ways to solve their problems. During 8-10 May 2019, representatives from Kayan, Kayah, Pa-O, Shan, Lahu and Kachin opium farming communities came together to discuss our challenges in life and find ways to solve our problems. We feel it is crucial that our voices of poppy-growing communities are heard in decision-making processes that affect our lives. Therefore, in 2013 we set up the Myanmar Opium Farmers’ Forum (MOFF), and this is our 7th annual meeting. We want to make clear to the world why we grow opium. We are subsistence farmers living in isolated mountainous areas, and cultivate poppy as a cash crop in order to buy food to feed our families and buy access to education and health care for our children. So the main reason is poverty. Some people in the city may think we earn a lot of money, but we are still poor. “Rich people don’t grow opium,” said one farmer, “only poor people grow it!” We do not want to be seen as criminals. We are not planting opium to go against the government or against the world. We are just planting it for our survival. Many of us would like to grow other crops, but this is difficult for several reasons. First of all, there is no market, and prices are very unstable. We have weak negotiation power. The businessmen are well connected and better organised then us, and they decide the price. We do not have any strong farmers’ institutions and we have no collective bargaining power. Our villages are remote, have poor infrastructure and high transportation costs further make it difficult for us to reach the market to sell our crops. No buyer comes to our village to buy our crops; this only happens in the case of opium..." "ကျွန်ုပ်တို့ ကရင်၊ ကယား၊ ပအိုဝ်း၊ ရှမ်း၊ လားဟူနှင့် ကချင်ဘိန်းစိုက်တောင်သူ ကိုယ်စားလှယ်များသည် ကျွန်ုပ်တို့ ရင်ဆိုင်ကြုံတေ ွ့နေရသည့် စိန်ခေါ်မှုအခက်အခဲများကို နှီးနှောတိုင်ပင်၍ ဆေ ွးနွေးအဖြေရှာနိုင် စေရန်၂၀၁၉ ခုနှစ်မေလ ၈-၁၀ ရက်နေ့အတ ွင်း တေ ွ့ဆုံစည်းဝေးခဲ့ကြပါသည်။ ဘိန်းစိုက်တောင်သူများ၏ ဘဝများအပေါ် ရိုက်ခတ်လျက်ရှိသည့် ဆုံးဖြတ်ချက်ချမှတ်မှုလုပ်ငန်းစဉ်များအားလုံး၌ ဘိန်းစိုက်တောင်သူ များ၏ သဘောထားများကို ထည့်သ ွင်းစဉ်းစားပေးရန် အလွန်အရေးကြီးသည်ဟု ကျ ွန်ုပ်တို့ယူဆပါသည်။ ထို့ကြောင့် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံဘိန်းစိုက်တောင်သူများညီလာခံ(MOFF)ကို ၂၀၁၃ ခုနှစ်မှစ၍ စီစဉ်ကျင်းပလာခဲ့ သည်မှာ ယခု(၇)ကြိမ်တိုင်ခဲ့ပြီဖြစ်ပါသည်။ ကျွန်ုပ်တို့ ဘိန်းစိုက်ပျိုးရသည့် ကိစ္စရပ်နှင့်ပတ်သက်၍ ကမ္ဘာ့လူထုတစ်ရပ်လုံးကို အမြင်ရှင်းစေလိုပါသည်။ ကျွန်ုပ်တို့သည်ဝေးလံခေါင်ဖျားသည့် တောင်တန်းကုန်းမြင့်ဒေသများ၌ နေထိုင်ကြရသည့် လက်လုပ်လက် စားတောင်သူများသာဖြစ်ကြပြီး မိသားစုကို ကျေ ွးမွေးထောက်ပံ့ရန်နှင့် သားသမီးများ၏ ပညာရေးနှင့် ကျန်း မာရေးကို ထောက်ပံ့နိုင်သည့် ဝင်ငွေရသီးနှံတစ်ရပ်အဖြစ် ဘိန်းကိုစိုက်ပျိုးကြရခြင်းဖြစ်ပါသည်။ သို့ဖြစ်၍ ဆင်းရဲနွမ်းပါးမှုသည်သာလျှင်အဓိကအကြောင်းရင်းဖြစ်နေပါသည်။ မြို့ပြနေလူထုများအနေဖြင့်ကျွန်ုပ်တို့၌ ရွှေတ ွဲလ ွဲ ငွေတ ွဲလ ွဲဖြစ်နေကြမည်ဟု ယူဆလျက်ရှိသော်လည်း အကယ်စင်စစ်ကျ ွန်ုပ်တို့သည်ဆင်းရဲနေမြ ဲ ပင်ဖြစ်သည်။ “သူဌေးတေ ွက ဘိန်းမစိုက်ကြဘူး”ဟု တောင်သူတစ်ဦးက ပြောဆိုခဲ့ပြီး “ဆင်းရဲသားတေ ွပဲ ဘိန်းစိုက်ကြတယ်”ဟု ဆက်လက်ပြောဆိုခ ဲ့သည်။ ကျွန်ုပ်တို့ကို ရာဇဝတ်သားများအဖြစ် မရှုမြင်စေလိုပါ။ ကျွန်ုပ်တို့အနေဖြင့် အစိုးရကို သို့မဟုတ်ကမ္ဘာကို တော်လှန်ပုန်ကန်ရန်ဘိန်းစိုက်ပျိုးနေကြသည်မဟုတ်ပါ။ အသက်ရှင်ရပ်တည်ရေးအတ ွက်မလွှဲမရှောင်သာ စိုက်ပျိုးနေကြရခြင်းဖြစ်သည်။..."
Creator/author: Angelo, U Min Thein, Khun Sein Shwe, Kyar Yin Shell, Nan Htay Htay
Source/publisher: Transnational Institute (TNI)
2019-05-10
Date of entry/update: 2019-05-17
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 193.07 KB 288.22 KB
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Description: ''For the past 20 years, China has been the main market for Myanmar’s rich bounty of illegally produced opium and its potent derivative heroin. But recent declines in both drugs’ prices and production in Myanmar’s section of the opium-growing Golden Triangle region suggest changing consumption patterns in China, including a shift towards more synthetic drugs such as ice, cocaine and potentially the locally made opioid fentanyl. According to a recent United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC) survey, areas under opium cultivation dropped to 37,300 hectares in 2018, down from the 41,000 hectares in 2017. Total opium production, meanwhile, dropped from 550 to 510 metric tons, the same survey showed. That equates to around 50 tons of heroin, as it takes 10 kilograms of opium plus chemicals to produce a kilogram of the more potent drug. In the 1990s and early 2000s, Myanmar’s opium production boomed with average annual yields of 1,000 tons or more. Until now, high Chinese demand has driven Myanmar’s illicit bumper crops. According to statistics compiled by Chin Ko-lin and Sheldon Zhang, two US-based academics and experts on the Golden Triangle drug trade, China had 1,545,000 registered drug addicts in 2010, with 1,065,000 of those addicted to heroin. The actual figure, as most addicts are not registered with the government, could have been as many as 4-5 million, according to other independent researchers...''
Creator/author: Bertil Lintner
Source/publisher: Asia Times
2019-04-02
Date of entry/update: 2019-04-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: ''After decades of fighting between the central government and various ethnic armed organisations in Myanmar, the links between drugs and conflict have spiraled into a complex chain reaction. The roots of the conflict are political, but today very few of the conflict parties in drugs-producing areas can claim to have clean hands when it comes to the narcotics trade. Myanmar has been under military-dominated government since 1962, and it remains one of the most militarized countries in the world. The recently-released “Myanmar Opium Survey 2018” by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) makes the following conclusion: “[In] parts of Shan and Kachin experiencing a protracted state of conflict, high concentrations of poppy cultivation have continued – a clear correlation between conflict and opium production.”1 There is nothing controversial in this statement, and the description reflects the situation in the field. The UNODC, however, then goes on to make specific accusations against several of the conflict actors. In the process, the UN agency makes a number of errors and appears to omit important information, thereby distorting realities of the situation on the ground...'' "ကုလသမဂ္ဂ မူးယစ်ဆေးဝါးနှင့် ပြစ်မှုဆိုင်ရာရုံး(UNODC)၏ လတ်တလောထုတ်ပြန်ခဲ့သည့် “၂၀၁၈ ခုနှစ် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံဆိုင်ရာ ဘိန်းစစ်တမ်း”၌ ပဋိပက္ခတွင်း ပါဝင်ပတ်သက်နေသည့် အဖွဲ့အစည်းအချို့ကို တိတိပပစွပ်စွဲပြောဆိုထားသည့် အချက်များပါဝင်လျက်ရှိသည်။ ဤ သုံးသပ်ချက်အတွင်း မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ၏ ရှုပ်ထွေးလွန်းလှသည့် လက်တွေ့အခြေအနေများကို ထင်ဟပ်မှုမရှိဘဲ လိုရာဆွဲ၍ မည်ကဲ့သို့ပုံဖော်ရေးသားထားကြောင်း ရှင်းလင်းဖော်ပြထားပါ သည်။ မန်မာနိုင်ငံအတွင်း ဆယ်စုနှစ်ပေါင်းများစွာ ဗဟိုအစိုးရနှင့် တိုင်းရင်းသားလက်နက်ကိုင် တော်လှန်ရေး အဖွဲ့အစည်းများအကြား ဖြစ်ပွားလာခဲ့သည့် တိုက်ပွဲများ၏အဆုံး၌ မူးယစ်ဆေးဝါးနှင့် ပဋိပက္ခအကြား ဆက်စပ်မှုသည် အလွန်ရှုပ်ထွေးသည့် ကွင်းဆက်ဖြစ်စဉ်တစ်ခုအဖြစ် ကျယ်ပြန့်လာခဲ့သည်။ ပဋိပက္ခ၏ ဇစ်မြစ်သည် နိုင်ငံရေးဖြစ်သော်လည်း မူးယစ်ဆေးဝါးထုတ်လုပ်သည့် နယ်မြေဒေသများရှိ မူးယစ်ဆေး ဝါးကုန်ကူးမှုနှင့် ပတ်သက်လာပါက မိမိတို့၏လက်များ စွန်းထင်းခြင်းမရှိဘဲ သန့်စင်လျက်ရှိသည်ဟု ပြောဆိုနိုင်သည့် ပဋိပက္ခဇာတ်ကောင်များ လွန်စွာနည်းပါးသည်။ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံသည် ၁၉၆၂ ခုနှစ်က တည်းက စစ်တပ်ကြီးစိုးထားသည့် အစိုးရအဆက်ဆက်အောက်၌ ကျရောက်ခဲ့ပြီး ယခုအချိန်ထိလည်း ကမ္ဘာ့မျက်နှာစာထက် စစ်ပုံသွင်းမှု အကျယ်ပြန့်ဆုံးနိုင်ငံတစ်ခုအဖြစ် ရပ်တည်နေဆဲဖြစ်သည်။ လတ်တလောထုတ်ပြန်ခဲ့သည့် ကုလသမဂ္ဂ မူးယစ်ဆေးဝါးနှင့် ပြစ်မှုဆိုင်ရာရုံး၏ “၂၀၁၈ ခုနှစ် မြန်မာ နိုင်ငံဆိုင်ရာ ဘိန်းစစ်တမ်း”၌ အောက်ပါအတိုင်း သုံးသပ်တင်ပြထားသည်။ “ကာလရှည် လက်နက် ကိုင်ပဋိပက္ခဒဏ်သင့်ခဲ့သည့် ရှမ်းပြည်နယ်နှင့် ကချင်ပြည်နယ်တို့၏ အချို့သောနယ်မြေဒေသများ၌ ဘိန်းစိုက်ပျိုးထုတ်လုပ်မှု ဆက်လက်ထူထပ်နေခြင်းက ဘိန်းစိုက်ပျိုးထုတ်လုပ်မှုနှင့် ပဋိပက္ခအကြား အပြန်အလှန် ဆက်နွယ်ပတ်သက်မှုရှိကြောင်း ရှင်းရှင်းလင်းလင်းပြဆိုလျက်ရှိသည်။”၁ ဤအဆိုနှင့် ပတ်သက်၍ ဝိဝါဒကွဲပြားစရာ အကြောင်းမရှိသလို သုံးသပ်ဖော်ပြချက်သည်လည်း မြေပြင်အခြေအနေ ကို ထင်ဟပ်လျက်ရှိသည်။...''
Source/publisher: Transnational Institute (TNI)
2019-03-05
Date of entry/update: 2019-03-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
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Description: ''After decades of fighting between the central government and various ethnic armed organisations in Myanmar, the links between drugs and conflict have spiraled into a complex chain reaction. The roots of the conflict are political, but today very few of the conflict parties in drugs-producing areas can claim to have clean hands when it comes to the narcotics trade. Myanmar has been under military-dominated government since 1962, and it remains one of the most militarized countries in the world. The recently-released “Myanmar Opium Survey 2018” by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) makes the following conclusion: “[In] parts of Shan and Kachin experiencing a protracted state of conflict, high concentrations of poppy cultivation have continued – a clear correlation between conflict and opium production.”1 There is nothing controversial in this statement, and the description reflects the situation in the field. The UNODC, however, then goes on to make specific accusations against several of the conflict actors. In the process, the UN agency makes a number of errors and appears to omit important information, thereby distorting realities of the situation on the ground...''
Source/publisher: Transnational Institute (TNI)
2019-03-05
Date of entry/update: 2019-03-10
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: ''Despite the surrender of 102 alleged “godfathers” and their associates in Bangladesh, shipments of methamphetamines, or yaba, from Myanmar keep coming, The Daily Star newspaper reported. The Bangladesh government has a list of 43 drug traffickers and their family members who have not yet surrendered to the authorities. “A dozen ‘yaba’ dealers in Myanmar send ‘yaba’ shipments to Bangladesh once they receive orders from these godfathers,” the paper wrote on February 17. Drugs manufactured in Myanmar enter Bangladesh near Cox’s Bazar in the southeast, a long-time haven for smugglers of all kinds of goods. The Bangladesh government has launched a surrender program under which drug traffickers will not receive any general amnesty but will have to face legal action...''
Creator/author: Bertil Lintner
Source/publisher: Asia Times
2019-02-18
Date of entry/update: 2019-02-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: ''It seems Shan State’s stigma of being the epicenter of narcotics production won’t go away easily even after nearly three decades of Afghanistan took over as the leader in opium trade in 1990, pushing Shan State to the second place until today. The period from 1950s onward until the 1990s was the era of opium refined heroin. But now in 21st century it is the crystal methamphetamine called “ice”. Recent International Crisis Group (ICG) report “Fire and Ice: Conflict and Drugs in Myanmar’s Shan State” pointed out that Shan State is the epicenter of this manufactured synthetic drugs, which again lent the area the stigma of narcotics center of production. “The trade in ice, along with amphetamine tablets and heroin, has become so large and profitable that it dwarfs the formal economy of Shan State, lies at the heart of its political economy, fuels criminality and corruption and hinders efforts to end the state’s long-running ethnic conflicts,” wrote the ICG report...''
Creator/author: Sai Wansai
Source/publisher: Shan News via " International Crisis Group (ICG)''
2019-02-04
Date of entry/update: 2019-02-04
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: ''Myanmar (Burma) is the world's second largest producer of opium. Opium bans have left many poppy farmers without sustainable sources of income. Coffee is supposed to be an alternative. A Report by Bastian Hartig...''
Creator/author: Bastian Hartig
Source/publisher: DW News
2015-02-14
Date of entry/update: 2019-01-30
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ), Shan
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Description: ''Myo Min knows all too well about the negative effects of excessive drug use. He started using methamphetamines more than a decade ago after being pressured to try it by some friends, and quickly graduated to heroin. Since then, he has seen it all: sleepless nights, failing health, fights with his family, paranoia, and tragedy. Several years ago, a close friend became so paranoid from using drugs that he jumped from the fourth floor of a building to his death. Despite all of this, Myo Min hasn’t managed to get himself completely clean. “It is much easier now to buy yaba compared to before,” he said, referring to Thai word for the cheap methamphetamine pill. “I sometimes use yaba now, although not as much as before. Now I think I have things more under control.” Myo Min’s experience is not unique in Myanmar, where health workers say that drug use is becoming increasingly common in many communities across the country...''
Creator/author: Oliver Slow, Win Zar Ni Aung
Source/publisher: Asia Times
2019-01-25
Date of entry/update: 2019-01-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: ''The voice of communities involved in illicit cultivation had long been excluded from policymaking platforms. However, thanks to growing networks such as the Myanmar Opium Farmers Forum, more and more farmers have gained more space to provide input to drug policy discussions at the UN level. This video, prepared by the Myanmar Opium Farmers' Forum (MOFF), was presented at the fourth intersessional meeting at the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), specifically during a session on Alternative Development and Crop Control Strategy on 24 October 2018. The session was part of a wider set of meetings in preparation for the upcoming high-level meeting at the CND in March 2019...''
Source/publisher: Transnational Institute (TNI)
2018-10-30
Date of entry/update: 2019-01-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English, Shan
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Description: ''Myanmar’s Shan State has emerged as one of the largest global centres for the production of crystal methamphetamine (“ice”). Large quantities of the drug, with a street value of tens of billions of dollars, are seized each year in Myanmar, neighbouring countries and across the Asia-Pacific. Production takes place in safe havens in Shan State held by militias and other paramilitary units allied with the Myanmar military, as well as in enclaves controlled by non-state armed groups. The trade in ice, along with amphetamine tablets and heroin, has become so large and profitable that it dwarfs the formal economy of Shan State, lies at the heart of its political economy, fuels criminality and corruption and hinders efforts to end the state’s long-running ethnic conflicts. Myanmar’s government should stop prosecuting users and small-scale sellers and work with its neighbours to disrupt the major networks and groups profiting from the trade. The military should better constrain pro-government militias and paramilitaries involved in the drugs trade, with an eye to their eventual demobilisation...''
Source/publisher: International Crisis Group
2019-01-08
Date of entry/update: 2019-01-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 370.81 KB 810.99 KB
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Description: ''Between 26 and 28 May 2018, representatives of opium farming communities in several states in Myanmar came together in Lashio, Shan State, to share experiences, concerns, and initiatives on the issue of illicit cultivation, especially in relation with supply-side policies which have affected their lives and livelihoods. A final statement was concluded at the end of the forum. We, representatives from Kayah, Kayan, Shan, Pa-O, Lahu and Kachin opium farming communities, came together in Lashio in Shan State during 26-28 May 2018, to discuss the challenges we face in our lives, and to share experiences and find ways to solve our problems. We set up the Myanmar Opium Farmer’s Forum (MOFF) to make our voices heard in 2013, and this was our 6th annual MOFF meeting...''
Source/publisher: Transnational Institute (TNI)
2018-06-01
Date of entry/update: 2019-01-09
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: ''For most farmers and their families, opium cultivation is a means of survival, especially in the context poverty, insecurity, and repression. This film sensitively portrays the lives of two opium farming families in Myanmar and sheds light on their plight. Myanmar is the second largest opium producer in the world after Afghanistan. Opium cultivation is often the only viable cash crop for poor farmers living in remote mountain areas in Kachin and Shan States. Indigenous people in Kachin and Shan also use opium culturally, in religious rituals and as traditional medicine. The Myanmar government is carrying out forced eradication to reduce opium production without sufficiently considering the farmers themselves. The Myanmar Opium Farmers’ Forum (MOFF) was formed in 2013 to protect the rights of farmers and help them have meaningful involvement in drug policy design and alternative livelihood development. This film sensitively portrays the lives of two opium farming families in Myanmar and sheds light on their plight...''
Source/publisher: Transnational Institute (TNI)
2018-12-17
Date of entry/update: 2019-01-04
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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