United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
- Myanmar
Myanmar’s junta growing more opium than ever
Myanmar has been growing more opium since the 2021 coup, reversing a six-year decline between 2014 and 2020, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has said. During the first full opium growing season since the military took power in February 2021, Myanmar saw a 33% increase in poppy cultivation and an 88% increase in potential opium yield…
- Thailand
Drug traffickers killed in N Thailand gun battle
Five suspected drug traffickers were shot and almost 500,000 methamphetamine pills were seized after a skirmish in Chiang Rai province Thursday. A military patrol came across the suspected smugglers carrying backpacks in the early hours of Thursday in the area where the forested borders of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet, long a lucrative hub for the illegal drug trade. Refusing…
- Drugs
Drug policy outlines by PM, cash rewards to police in busts
The Thai government held an event outlining its plan for stopping the spread of narcotics while simultaneously presenting police with the same sort of reward kickbacks that allowed disgraced police officer Joe Ferrari to amass extreme wealth on a small salary. PM Prayut Chan-o-cha released Thailand’s new urgent narcotics action plan in a special event to discuss drugs in the kingdom.…
- Drugs
Too bad to be true – the 2 baht meth pill
Meth pills that cost 300 baht each just a few years ago, are now available on the street for as little as 2 baht each, according to police and the Bangkok Post, but are we obliged to believe them? Why would we start now? The revelation comes in an article in Bangkok Post which begins by talking about the speed…
- Drugs
How can Thailand win its war on drugs?
As Thailand begins the latest round of its war on drugs, Thai PBS paints a pretty bleak picture of the prospects for a quick victory. This is no metaphorical war. This is an armed struggle, with well-drilled militaries on every side. According to the news provider, the production of methamphetamine by organised crime syndicates has resulted in a sharp drop…
- Thailand
Guns, drugs and mental health – questions for a grieving nation
Since at least 37 people were killed in Thursday’s daycare centre massacre, Thailand has been forced to ask itself some very uncomfortable questions. Gregory Raymond is a lecturer in the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs researching Southeast Asian politics and foreign relations. Writing for Australia’s ABC News, Raymond identifies some areas that should be of concern to everyone…
- Myanmar
Myanmar sees rapid uptick of narcotics production, trafficking since coup
Illicit drug production and trafficking in Myanmar has rapidly increased since the February 2021 military coup, when Tatmadaw (Burmese army) seized power and overthrew the civilian, elected government. A senior official from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime says, that over the past year, there has been a spike in narcotics production, particularly methamphetamine, in the country’s Shan State…
- Drugs
Thailand law enforcement gets new “laser” narcotics analysers
Thailand law enforcement will now use a new “laser” narcotics analyser to test suspicious substances and chemicals in major drug busts. It’s apparently a more accurate method to identify illicit drugs than the current colour test. The new portable drug test happens to come a few months after Thailand claimed to have seized 11.5 tonnes of ketamine in the “biggest…
