Drug production spike in S-E Asia calls for new approach to end trade: UN

[superadmin]

WASHINGTON - Close to 1.2 tonnes of heroin and methamphetamine were discovered by the Thai authorities last Friday (June 18).

The drugs had been hidden in fruit containers in a mangrove forest in the southern province of Satun, to be picked up during high tide and transported to Malaysia.

The find made evident that instead of abating, the tsunami of methamphetamines flooding the region is growing.

A report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) that was released on June 10 confirms that roughly 170 tonnes of methamphetamine were seized in the region last year - a 19 per cent increase over the 142 tonnes seized in 2019.


Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam accounted for 71 per cent of total seizures.

But seizures are the tip of the proverbial iceberg; all they make clear is that despite tighter border controls on account of the Covid-19 pandemic, transnational organised crime groups thrived in 2020.


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