Myanmar, Thailand destroy $1 bn drugs

Myanmar and Thailand on Friday destroyed nearly USD 1 billion of seized narcotics to mark World Drugs Day, as the UN said East and Southeast Asia remained the world’s biggest markets for synthetic drugs and heroin.

Authorities in Myanmar said drugs worth around USD 245 million were crushed under a steamroller or torched in three locations including the commercial hub Yangon.

The country, which is emerging from years of military rule, has <g data-gr-id="16">long-struggled</g> to control illegal drug production especially in its border areas where ethnic rebel groups are still active.

The “Golden Triangle” region -- covering parts of Laos, Thailand and Myanmar -- was formerly one of the world’s top producers of opium and heroin, until the emergence of Afghanistan as a drugs production hub.

Myanmar’s eastern Shan state accounts for nearly all of the illegal poppy cultivation in the country, which remains the world’s second largest opium producer. Much of the raw material is believed to be smuggled across the border for processing into heroin in China, which is home to the world’s largest number of addicts.

In <g data-gr-id="22">Thailand</g> authorities torched nearly 9.5 tons of drugs with a street value of nearly USD 600 million. “Around 66 million pills of methamphetamine... 798 kilograms (1,750 pounds) of crystal methamphetamine... heroin weighing over 418 kilograms” were burned.