Draft:Synthetic Drug Production in Myanmar
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Over the past decade, Southeast Asia’s illicit drug market has experienced significant shifts, with a steep increase in the manufacture of synthetic drugs especially methamphetamine. Myanmar’s Shan State is reported to be the main source of synthetic drugs in the region, although manufacture of ketamine and its precursors has expanded to other parts of the lower Mekong.[1] Despite repeated commitments from regional governments to tackle the issue, transnational organized crime groups control multibillion-dollar operations across the region, wielding massive influence and expanding their global reach.[2]
In a 2019 assessment of transnational organized crime in Southeast Asia, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) highlighted this transition, identifying Myanmar as a major hub for production.[3] Transnational organized crime groups operating from Myanmar work in partnership with militias and ethnic armed organizations and traffic crystalline and tablet methamphetamine for markets in East and Southeast Asia and Oceania, and increasingly further afield. Analysts and law enforcement have identified methamphetamine moving from Myanmar into Thailand and on to Malaysia, with Southeast Asia rapidly becoming both an origin and transit region for countries including Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea.[3][2]
Countries in Southeast Asia, and particularly the Mekong region, have collectively witnessed sustained increases in seizures of methamphetamine over the last decade, totaling over 169 tons and a record of over 1.1 billion methamphetamine tablets in 2023, more than any other part of the world, with Myanmar representing one of the world's largest sources of the drug.[4] In April and May 2020, Myanmar authorities reported Asia's largest ever drug operation in Shan State, seizing 193 million methamphetamine tablets, hundreds of kilogrammes of crystal methamphetamine as well as some heroin, and over 162,000 litres and 35.5 tons of drug precursors as well as sophisticated production equipment and several staging and storage facilities.[5] Authorities have intercepted precursor chemicals travelling down from China into Laos and Vietnam, en route to production factories in Myanmar.[6]
Laos has also become an important transit route for synthetic drugs produced in Myanmar, especially the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone. In January 2018, the United States Treasury Department sanctioned Kings Romans, its owner, Zhao Wei, and the "Zhao Wei Transnational Crime Organization," alleging the casino was used to launder money and traffic drugs, among other serious crimes.[7] Despite this, consignments of drugs and precursors still transit near the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone.
In 2023, law enforcement agencies across Southeast Asia seized 169 tons of synthetic drugs, with nearly three quarters of this seized in Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand alone. UNODC reports that this data reflects “the consolidation of methamphetamine production in the Golden Triangle region of Myanmar and its impact on neighbouring Lao PDR and Thailand.”[8]
See Also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ UNODC Regional Office for Southeast Asia and the Pacific (2024). "Synthetic Drugs in East and Southeast Asia: Latest developments and challenges" (PDF). Retrieved 29 May 2025.
- ^ a b Douglas, Jeremy (2018-11-15). "Parts of Asia are slipping into the hands of organized crime". CNN. Retrieved 2025-05-29.
- ^ a b UNODC Regional Office for Southeast Asia and the Pacific (2019). "Transnational Organized Crime in Southeast Asia: Evolution, Growth and Impact" (PDF). Retrieved 29 May 2025.
- ^ United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (2022). "Synthetic Drugs in East and Southeast Asia: Latest Developments and Challenges 2022". Retrieved 29 May 2025.
- ^ Allard, Tom (2020-05-20). "Huge fentanyl haul seized in Asia's biggest-ever drugs bust". Reuters. Retrieved 2025-05-29.
- ^ "Chemicals in, Meth Out in Asia's Booming Golden Triangle Drug Trade". Voice of America. 2021-05-31. Retrieved 2025-05-29.
- ^ "Treasury Sanctions the Zhao Wei Transnational Criminal Organization". U.S. Department of the Treasury. 2025-02-08. Retrieved 2025-05-29.
- ^ UNODC Regional Office for Southeast Asia and the Pacific (2024). "Synthetic Drugs in East and Southeast Asia: Latest developments and challenges" (PDF). Retrieved 29 May 2025.