A new UN report has revealed that the cultivation of opium poppy has nearly tripled since 2006 in the heroin-producing “Golden Triangle” - the area adjoining Myanmar, Laos and Thailand.
In its annual Southeast Asia Opium Survey, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) yesterday said poppy cultivated in Myanmar and Laos in 2014 reached 63,800 hectares – the equivalent of nearly 90,000 football pitches – up from 21,600 hectares in 2006.
The latest figure represents a rise in cultivation for the eighth consecutive year, boosting an industry estimated to be worth $16bn a year in Southeast Asia, reports Al Jazeera.
Myanmar, the world’s second largest producer of opium behind Afghanistan, together with Laos this year produced 762 tonnes of opium, most of which would have been refined with chemicals into roughly 76 tonnes of mixed-grade heroin to be trafficked into global markets and across the region, where drug use is on the rise.
Myanmar authorities did not respond to Al-Jazeera’s requests for comment. The increase comes despite promises by the reformist Myanmar government to eradicate the problem.
Northern Laos accounted for just 9.72% of the total figure.
Myanmar government pledged in 1999 to wipe out all opium cultivation over in 15. But, a regional increase in demand has triggered a resurgence of production, largely by transnational crime networks.
As of 2014, China accounts for nearly 58% of the 3.33 million estimated opiate users throughout Asia. In Myanmar, opiate use is now one of the highest in Southeast Asia.