Golden Triangle

The Golden Triangle SEZ has been credibly accused of involvement in human trafficking, narcotics smuggling, and the trade in endangered wildlife products.

This week's 17 million tablet haul amounts to nearly the entire recorded seizures for last year.

Brown sugar, Heroin no 4 and Yaba top the narcotics flowing into India from Myanmar

The businessman Zhao Wei has established close relationships to Laos's communist elite.

The international cargo port will supercharge the smuggling routes linking Zhao Wei's casino empire to rebel-held zones in eastern Myanmar.

Mainland Southeast Asia remains a hotspot for illegal drug manufacturing, and Vietnam is emerging as a transit hub.

Though a new policy signals a shift to a more comprehensive approach to the problem, the true test will be in its implementation.

Though the record seizure deserves mention, focus on such developments also obscures the massive scale of the problem.

Though recent successes deserve mention, they also pale in comparison to both the magnitude and multidimensionality of the overall problem.

The illegal drug trade is sabotaging peace in Afghanistan and Myanmar alike.

The answer is much more complicated than a surface glance might suggest.