UN highlights the scale of illegal drug production in the Mekong region

[webfact]

 

By Editor

 

The number of methamphetamine tablets seized in East and Southeast Asia exceeded a billion last year for the first time, highlighting the scale of illegal drug production and trafficking in the region and the challenges of fighting it, says the U.N.

 

The 1.008 billion tablets was part of a regionwide haul of almost 172 tons of methamphetamine in all forms and was seven times higher than the amount seized 10 years earlier, the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime said in a report.

 

The drugs are largely consumed in Southeast Asia but also exported to New Zealand and Australia, Hong Kong, Korea and Japan in East Asia, and increasingly to South Asia.

 

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“Production and trafficking of methamphetamine jumped yet again as supply became super concentrated in the Mekong (River region) and in particular Thailand, Laos and Myanmar,” Jeremy Douglas, Southeast Asia regional representative for the U.N. agency, told The Associated Press.

 

The increased production makes the drug cheaper and more accessible, creating greater risk to people and their communities, the report said.

 

Methamphetamine is easy to make and has supplanted opium and its derivative heroin to become the dominant illegal drug in Southeast Asia for both use and export.

 

The Golden Triangle area, where the borders of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand meet, was historically a major production area for opium and hosted many of the labs that converted it to heroin. Decades of political instability have made Myanmar’s frontier regions largely lawless, to be exploited by drug producers and traffickers.

 

Given the problem of limited governance and low attention to the issue, the UN. agency said organized crime syndicates have the means to continue to produce more meth and to sell it to a growing, young population with increased spending power.

 

Source: https://royalcoastreview.com/2022/06/un-highlights-the-scale-of-illegal-drug-production-in-the-mekong-region/

 

-- © Copyright Royal Coast Review 2022-06-02

 

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[Pouatchee]

In a nutshell, ain't nothin' they gonna do about it.

[ThailandRyan]

Hub of illicit drugs.....execution is the only way like Duterte and Thaksin wanted...

[Geoffggi]

I agree methamphetamine tablets should be banned, They give marijuana a bad name ........LOL

[zzaa09]

What makes all this illegal and illicit? 

 

Does any sound person really know why?

????

[hotchilli]

5 hours ago, Pouatchee said:

In a nutshell, ain't nothin' they gonna do about it.

With the economy as it is and lack of employment opportunities drug smuggling is the only way some can see a way of making some money.

While the fat cats who fund it are left alone.

[Purdey]

I seems everyone knows where it is made and how it is brought into Thailand. Does anyone remember the famous road built in Thailand that went up to the Myanmar jungle border and stopped dead? As long as money is made there will be no end to it.

[Joe Farang]

On 6/2/2022 at 3:19 AM, ThailandRyan said:

Hub of illicit drugs.....execution is the only way like Duterte and Thaksin wanted...

So, should it be these US soldiers that should be executed or their superiors ?

 

[garyk]

 I lived in that area on and off for years birding, and the checkpoints there were looking for meth for sure. Brings back a lot of fond memories. Camping at the police station at Doi Lang. Way before Doi san ju opened up. 

Anybody remember those days???

Edited June 3, 2022 by garyk

[garyk]

2 hours ago, Joe Farang said:

So, should it be these US soldiers that should be executed or their superiors ?

 

That was interesting, thanks for sharing.  I don't have first hand knowledge, but I have read the Indian states that border are ravaged with heroin additions.  

Edited June 3, 2022 by garyk

[sharksy]

On 6/2/2022 at 6:54 AM, zzaa09 said:

What makes all this illegal and illicit? 

 

Does any sound person really know why?

????

I saw an AlJazeera?? program about this.  There are a number of warlords in Myanmar who control areas and this requires money for guns etc.  Each warlord has his own Meth lab and traffiking routes.