In Mekong region, drug trade thrives
14
Johanna Son Founder/editor of the Reporting ASEAN series
published : 15 Jul 2021 at 04:00
14 Confiscated synthetic drugs, including 167 kilogrammes of ketamine as well as other popular recreational drugs, in this file photo from April 7. (Photo: Nutthawat Wicheanbut)
An example of a resilient business model in hard times? Indeed, except that this describes how the synthetic drug industry has been expanding in East and Southeast Asia, home to the Mekong region which is the manufacturing and trafficking hub that supplies illicit drugs that reach not just the wider Asia but the globe.
Referring to a report on the synthetic drug situation, Inshik Sim, drug programme analyst for Southeast Asia and the Pacific for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), said: Covid-19 has had very, very limited impact and especially in the Mekong region, we don t see much impact of Covid-19,
A new United Nations report has outlined how drug -related crime organisations in Southeast Asia have expanded beyond the Golden Triangle, with traffickers increasingly turning to maritime routes amid Covid-19 restrictions on air travel. A record 170 tonnes of methamphetamine were seized in the region last year, up 19 per cent from 2019, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
Thailand and Australia probe massive meth haul on cargo ship thestar.com.my - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thestar.com.my Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Sex, Drugs, Guns and COVID-19: Amid Pandemic, Illicit Border Trades Flourish
A joint task force comprising Thai military and police seize a large cache of Chinese-made weapons, which are believed to have been destined for western Myanmar, on June 23, 2020 in Mae Sot, Thailand.
5.2k
By The Irrawaddy 11 December 2020
As Myanmar’s COVID-19 cases spiked in July and August, Thai newspapers assured their readers that government agencies were collaborating to step up patrols along the border to prevent illegal crossings. Photographs taken at the time showed well-equipped, heavily armed soldiers and police patrolling the Moei River, which forms the border between Thailand’s Mae Sot and Karen State’s Myawaddy.