Myanmar militias and rebel forces boost drug trade: UN
BANGKOK - Armed groups in the country's Far East have been increasing drug production for cash, allying with and against the country's military since the conflict began in February 2021. A UN official told VOA this week.
The official added that the drugs were moving through Laos to the rest of Asia due to tight security along the border with Thailand and Myanmar.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime says a record amount of methamphetamine "Yaba" tablets have been seized in the past year, and its retail prices have plummeted in neighboring countries. As a result, a strong network of ব্যবস 6 billion worth of drugs has been built in the border areas of neighboring China, Laos and Thailand from the restive state of Shan in Myanmar.
Jeremy Douglas, UNODC's representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, told VOA on March 2: However, there is no doubt that production has increased significantly, and in 2020 a record amount of yaba was produced.
According to official figures compiled by UNODC, the seizure rate of methamphetamine in Thailand increased by 20% from January to October last year compared to 2020, a record year, and more than 40% in Malaysia.
Last October, the largest single registered drug shipment in the history of Asia was seized in Laos. Bokeo, on the border with Shan State, also seized 55 million yaba tablets and 1.5 tons of methamphetamine crystals, or "ice", packed in beer crates inside a truck passing through the province.
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