Myanmar drug trade

Asian governments seized a record 236 tons of methamphetamine last year, according to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime.

Jakarta's anti-drug agency linked the 2-ton meth seizure to a syndicate in the Golden Triangle, which has seen a spike in narcotics production over the past decade.

Despite a slight decrease in opium production, the UNODC warned that the conditions were in place for its continued expansion.

The military says it stepping up its fight against narcotics, without reckoning with its own role in the recent boom in production.

Last year saw East and Southeast Asian governments seize 190 tons of methamphetamine, the largest amount ever recorded in a single year.

“Without heroin and meth, the state probably wouldn’t exist, and the Wa would be one more indigenous people preyed upon by Myanmar’s military.”

Regional methamphetamine seizures dropped slightly in 2022, according to the U.N., but other indicators suggest that the supply "has remained very high or unchanged."

In recent years, Myanmar-based drug syndicates have driven a regional boom in the production of amphetamine-style stimulants.

As the formal economy has atrophied, black markets and illicit trades have expanded their reach.

The country’s law enforcement operations have done little to shrink the narcotics trade amid a pandemic-related supply glut and instability in Myanmar.

The country's four largest meth seizures on record have come over the past 15 months – striking evidence of the scale of the recent Mekong drug production boom.

The U.N. drug agency claims that last year's seizures of methamphetamine were seven times higher than the amount seized 10 years ago.