Myanmar: Data shows the drug industry has proved resilient during the pandemic

Some expected drug trafficking routes to be disrupted by stepped-up enforcement and COVID-19 travel restrictions, but seizure data shows the industry has proved resilient.

Many thought the drug raids in northern Shan early in the year would lead to a reduction in output, and that transport restrictions imposed because of the COVID-19 pandemic would lessen the flow of narcotics from the area to domestic and foreign markets.

The evidence shows this has not happened – far from it. Data from the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control and other open-source statistics show that seizures of narcotics – particularly crystal methamphetamine, the highly addictive stimulant commonly known as “ice”, or shabu shabu in Southeast Asia ­– continued unabated throughout the year. Seizures are generally considered a reliable indication of the volume of drugs being sent along a particular route – but the real volume is likely to be many times higher than that which was detected. Myanmar’s drug business – thought to be worth tens of billions of dollars a year, with crystal meth fetching hundreds of thousands of dollars a kilogramme in Western markets – has proven highly resilient. 

Opium production in Myanmar, the world’s second-largest cultivator of the poppies that are the base ingredient for heroin, has dropped, according to a United Nations study released Thursday, as "Golden Triangle” drug lords focus on the more lucrative synthetic drug trade. Around 405 metric tons of opium were produced in Myanmar last year, about half the amount recorded in 2013.

However, the report said Myanmar “remains the major supplier of opium and heroin in East and Southeast Asia, as well as Australia,” a region of around 3 million users consuming around $10 billion of the drug each year.

The nature of drug trade has been changing over time. According to an analysis by Danny Vincent, BBC News, Hong Kong, synthetic drugs are changing the nature of the global illicit drug trade. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has linked the rise of synthetic drug production across Asia to sophisticated crime syndicates that source precursor chemicals from labs in China and India. The syndicates then work with militia in conflict areas in Myanmar to produce large quantities of illicit drugs in so-called "super labs".

Source:

1)https://www.frontiermyanmar.net/en/an-illicit-trade-born-in-war-thrives-in-peace/

2)https://www.voanews.com/east-asia-pacific/myanmar-opium-production-drops-meth-surges-un-says

3)https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-52712014