A member of Pat Jasan, a grassroots organization motivated by their faith to eliminate the devastating effects of drugs, holds poppies as his team cuts and uproots them from a hillside, in Lung Zar village, northern Kachin State, Myanmar on February 3, 2016.
Hkun Lat/AP
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Hkun Lat/AP
A member of Pat Jasan, a grassroots organization motivated by their faith to eliminate the devastating effects of drugs, holds poppies as his team cuts and uproots them from a hillside, in Lung Zar village, northern Kachin State, Myanmar on February 3, 2016.
Hkun Lat/AP
BANGKOK — Opium production in Myanmar has flourished since the military came to power, with poppy cultivation up a third in the past year as eradication efforts stalled and the economy sagged. The decline has led many people to turn to the drug trade, according to a United Nations report released on Thursday.
In 2022, in the first full growing season since the military took control of the country from Aung San Suu Kyi’s democratically elected government in 2021, Myanmar’s arable land has increased by 33 % to 40,100 hectares (99,090 acres), according to a report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
“The economic, security and governance disruptions following the military takeover in February 2021 have converged, and farmers in remote, conflict-prone areas in northern Shan and other border states have little choice but to return to growing opium,” the UN office said. regional representative Jeremy Douglas.
The overall value of Myanmar’s opium economy, based on United Nations estimates, is between $660 million and $2 billion, depending on how much is sold locally and how much raw opium is processed into. heroin or other drugs.
“Virtually all heroin reported in East and Southeast Asia and Australia originates in Myanmar, and the country remains the second-largest producer of opium and heroin in the world after Afghanistan,” Douglas said. . “The two can’t be compared at this point as Afghanistan still produces much more, but the ongoing expansion in Myanmar should not be ignored and needs attention as it will likely continue – it concerns directly to the security and economic situation we see today.”
The area known as the Golden Triangle, which borders Myanmar, Laos and Thailand, has historically been a major opium production area and hosted many heroin conversion laboratories. Decades of political turmoil have left the border regions of Myanmar, also known as Burma, largely lawless, exploited by drug makers and traffickers.
Mr. Douglas said most of Myanmar’s opium exports to China and Vietnam, while heroin goes to many countries in the region.
“It’s really a valuable place for traffickers,” he said. “The profit is very high.”
A resident walks in a field of blooming poppies in Nampatka village, North Shan state, Myanmar on January 27, 2014.
Gemunu Amarasinghe/AP
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A resident walks in a field of blooming poppies in Nampatka village, North Shan state, Myanmar on January 27, 2014.
Gemunu Amarasinghe/AP
Opium cultivation has been on a downward trend in recent years before the military takes control of the government in 2021.
Production is estimated to bottom out at 400 tonnes (440 tonnes) in 2020. After a slight increase in 2021, the figure spikes in 2022 to an estimated 790 tonnes (870 tonnes), according to the report.
Since taking control of the government, the military’s use of deadly force to maintain power has escalated conflicts with civilian opponents to the point where some experts describe the country as currently in a state of crisis. civil war status.
According to the Association to Support Political Prisoners, 2,810 people have been killed by government forces and 17,427 detained so far.
The violence meant that the government could not reach some areas to carry out anti-drug attacks, and also had to shift its resources elsewhere. As a result, eradication efforts appear to have decreased significantly, with 1,403 hectares (3,467 acres) reported to have been eradicated in 2022 — about 70% less than in 2021.
At the same time, as the conflict continues to take its toll on Myanmar’s economy, more and more rural households are being pushed to rely more heavily on growing opium poppy for income, the UN said.
“The expansion of opium production is happening primarily because of poverty and people in rural areas react to the economic situation,” Douglas said. “It’s always been there in difficult times. At the same time, the security situation is clearly tough given the increasing frequency and intensity of conflicts, and those involved in the drug economy are barely there. controlled.”
Its synthetic drug economy is also surging for similar reasons, with seizures of methamphetamine and other drugs in the region reportedly reaching record levels. For example, in a September bankruptcy case in Laos, authorities seized 33 million methamphetamine tablets along with 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds) of crystal methamphetamine.
