US EditionSoutheast Asia's Illicit Methamphetamine Trade Is at a Record High, the UN Says
- On May 28, 2025, a report from the UN agency responsible for monitoring drug trafficking revealed that methamphetamine seizures in Southeast Asia reached unprecedented levels in 2024.
- The report attributes this surge primarily to Myanmar's 2021 military coup and ensuing civil war, which have created conditions favoring expanded drug production and trafficking.
- Methamphetamine production now involves industrial-scale networks based especially in Myanmar’s Shan State, with traffickers using diversified routes including land corridors through Laos and Cambodia and maritime paths via Malaysia and the Philippines.
- The report highlights that the 236 tons of methamphetamine recorded in seizures during 2024 reflects only a fraction of the total supply, with significantly larger quantities still making their way onto the market. Additionally, approximately 1 billion methamphetamine tablets were confiscated in Thailand alone last year.
- This growth highlights challenges for regional law enforcement and indicates a need for increased investment in both drug prevention and supply reduction strategies across affected countries.
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Southeast Asia's illicit methamphetamine trade is at record high, the UN says
The illicit trade in methamphetamine and other dangerous drugs is growing by leaps and bounds in Southeast Asia, with record levels of seizures serving as an indicator of the scale, U.N experts on the drug trade said in a new report Wednesday. Methamphetamine seizures, primarily in Southeast Asia, totaled 236…
Associated Press News
Southeast Asia's illicit methamphetamine trade is at a record high, the UN says
A new report by U.N. experts on the criminal drug trade says the illicit trade in methamphetamine and other dangerous drugs is growing by leaps and bounds in Southeast Asia.
Exponential rise in synthetic drug production and trafficking in the Golden Triangle - Cannabis News World
According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the production and trafficking of methamphetamine – an illegal synthetic stimulant – have risen sharply since 2021, particularly in Myanmar’s Shan State. UNODC emphasised that both the scale of production and the flow of trafficking in Shan State have “significantly” increased over the past few
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