Golden Triangle drug trade thrives during pandemic

The Golden Triangle is notorious for one thing. Drugs. And while the coronavirus pandemic is crippling businesses across Thailand, the drug industry around the Myanmar-Laos-Thailand border seems to be flourishing. Actually, really well. Production of synthetic drugs coming in from the Golden Triangle is hitting record highs, the Chiang Rai Times reports.

Opium and heroin production in the Golden Triangle has been declining, but synthetic drugs are on the rise. Methamphetamine production, with pills known as ‘yaba’, has been increasing. Fentanyl production, a synthetic opioid, has also been increasing.

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime, UNODC, released a report recently on the rise of synthetic drugs in Southeast Asia. The report says that the supply of synthetic drugs in the Golden Triangle continues to grow and the organised crime groups have intensified.

UNODC representative Jeremy Douglas says supply has increased and prices have dropped.

“It’s hard to imagine that organised crime have again managed to expand the drug market, but they have.”

SOURCE:Chiang Rai Times| UNODC

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