Burma sees upsurge in opium production
Friday, 19 October 2007
Harvey Morris
THIS year has seen an "alarming upsurge" in opium production in Burma, once the apex of the notorious south-east-Asian Golden Triangle that supplied most of the illicit heroin on the streets of western cities, United Nations officials said last Wednesday.
Despite a decade-old programme of crop eradication, military-ruled Burma is still the world's second-biggest producer, although its former hold on the illegal market is now dwarfed by Afghanistan, the UN's office on drugs and crime says.
"Over the past years, Myanmar [Burma] was priced out of the opium market by much higher yields and cultivation in Afghanistan," said Antonio Maria Costa, head of the UN agency. But a sharp increase in Burmese production this year "undermines progress towards a drug-free south-east Asia".
The Golden Triangle - which includes Laos and Thailand - produces only 5.0 per cent of the world's supply of the drug. But in Burma, the opium crop shot up almost 30 per cent this year to 27,000 hectares, while higher yields boosted production by almost 50 per cent.
Mr Costa said production was now concentrated in the south and east Shan states where he blamed corruption, high-level collusion and weak border security for encouraging a resurgence of the drugs trade.
Equally worrying was the fact that a decade of reduced opium cultivation had been offset by the emergence of a more lucrative methamphetamine trade. Calling for greater international efforts to counter the upward trend, Mr Costa said that "neglecting the greed and corruption that enable Myanmar's drug trade will fuel crime, instability, addiction and HIV".
Mr Costa said poor farmers had suffered most from the programme of eradication, while criminals and their cronies were continuing to profit from drug processing and trafficking. Income had shifted away from the farmers to criminal gangs, which focused on producing synthetic drugs.
Former Burmese poppy farmers have also been provided with little assistance to grow alternative crops - pushing many families deeper into poverty. Concerned over malnutrition and hunger among these farmers, the UN World Food Programme plans to increase its assistance.
A report released last Wednesday from the UN's drugs and crime office indicated 163,000 Burmese families were involved in producing opium with a potential value of $120m (€85m, £59m) this year, an increase of 67 per cent in value on the previous year.
At the end of the 1980s, production in the Golden Triangle exploded, mainly due to the dislocation caused by a number of rebellions in isolated regions of Burma against the military regime. Burma alone produced more than 2,500 tonnes in 1996, pushing supplies of the high-grade China White heroin on to the streets of the US and other western countries.
The UN report estimated 2007 production at 460 tonnes, 46 per cent higher than last year.
The warning on Burma came after a US scientist met Afghan officials this week to try to allay Afghan government health concerns over an airborne herbicide spray the US plans to use to kill opium crops. Afghanistan produces 93 per cent of the world's opium.
Under syndication arrangement with FE
THIS year has seen an "alarming upsurge" in opium production in Burma, once the apex of the notorious south-east-Asian Golden Triangle that supplied most of the illicit heroin on the streets of western cities, United Nations officials said last Wednesday.
Despite a decade-old programme of crop eradication, military-ruled Burma is still the world's second-biggest producer, although its former hold on the illegal market is now dwarfed by Afghanistan, the UN's office on drugs and crime says.
"Over the past years, Myanmar [Burma] was priced out of the opium market by much higher yields and cultivation in Afghanistan," said Antonio Maria Costa, head of the UN agency. But a sharp increase in Burmese production this year "undermines progress towards a drug-free south-east Asia".
The Golden Triangle - which includes Laos and Thailand - produces only 5.0 per cent of the world's supply of the drug. But in Burma, the opium crop shot up almost 30 per cent this year to 27,000 hectares, while higher yields boosted production by almost 50 per cent.
Mr Costa said production was now concentrated in the south and east Shan states where he blamed corruption, high-level collusion and weak border security for encouraging a resurgence of the drugs trade.
Equally worrying was the fact that a decade of reduced opium cultivation had been offset by the emergence of a more lucrative methamphetamine trade. Calling for greater international efforts to counter the upward trend, Mr Costa said that "neglecting the greed and corruption that enable Myanmar's drug trade will fuel crime, instability, addiction and HIV".
Mr Costa said poor farmers had suffered most from the programme of eradication, while criminals and their cronies were continuing to profit from drug processing and trafficking. Income had shifted away from the farmers to criminal gangs, which focused on producing synthetic drugs.
Former Burmese poppy farmers have also been provided with little assistance to grow alternative crops - pushing many families deeper into poverty. Concerned over malnutrition and hunger among these farmers, the UN World Food Programme plans to increase its assistance.
A report released last Wednesday from the UN's drugs and crime office indicated 163,000 Burmese families were involved in producing opium with a potential value of $120m (€85m, £59m) this year, an increase of 67 per cent in value on the previous year.
At the end of the 1980s, production in the Golden Triangle exploded, mainly due to the dislocation caused by a number of rebellions in isolated regions of Burma against the military regime. Burma alone produced more than 2,500 tonnes in 1996, pushing supplies of the high-grade China White heroin on to the streets of the US and other western countries.
The UN report estimated 2007 production at 460 tonnes, 46 per cent higher than last year.
The warning on Burma came after a US scientist met Afghan officials this week to try to allay Afghan government health concerns over an airborne herbicide spray the US plans to use to kill opium crops. Afghanistan produces 93 per cent of the world's opium.
Under syndication arrangement with FE