Spike in boats smuggling meth out of Myanmar, says United Nations

The border region between Myanmar, Laos and Thailand has long been a hotbed of illegal drug production and trafficking. - PHOTO: AFP

BANGKOK/YANGON, June 2, 2023 (AFP): Asian drug trafficking networks are increasingly using sea routes to smuggle methamphetamines out of Myanmar and ramping up ketamine production as they seek to expand their business, the UN said Friday.

Meth from coup-hit Myanmar's northeastern Shan state -- the regional epicentre for the drug's production -- is being smuggled by boats to avoid tighter patrols on land routes through China and Thailand, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said in an annual report.