crime
Myanmar destroys drugs worth 408 million euros
Drugs were burned in Myanmar to mark the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. photo
© Thein Zaw/AP
Drug trafficking in Myanmar thrives in wake of military coup. In the fight against this, the junta had many addictive substances destroyed. But the move could backfire.
In the crisis-ridden country of Myanmar, the authorities publicly burned confiscated drugs with a total value of more than 446 million US dollars (408 million euros).
Myanmar’s Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC) said on Facebook that the military junta had destroyed more than 100 different types of narcotics on the occasion of the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, including large quantities of opium, heroin, methamphetamine and cannabis. Cremation ceremonies took place in the largest city of Yangon (formerly Rangoon), as well as in Mandalay and Taunggyi.
Former Burma has descended into chaos and violence since the army coup backed into power in February 2021. “Myanmar’s big drug-burning show cannot hide the fact that the drug trade has grown a lot since the junta took power illegally,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch (HRW), the German press agency. “Unfortunately, the impact will increase both abuse and addiction not only among the population of Myanmar, but also in neighboring countries and across the region.”
The border area between Myanmar, northern Thailand and Laos – also known as the “Golden Triangle” – is one of the regions in the world where most drugs are manufactured and traded. In January, the United Nations announced that opium cultivation in Myanmar had increased significantly in the wake of the military coup. Experts from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime also saw a direct link to the political and economic chaos in the Southeast Asian country.