Opium production in South-East Asia reaches new high
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Bangkok (dpa) - Opium production in South-East Asia increased this year, to three times the levels of 2006, a United Nations report said Monday.
Myanmar remained the area's top producer, second worldwide only to Afghanistan, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.
Myanmar and Laos were the most significant producers in the area, with total crops of 762 tonnes of opium, most of which was converted using chemicals brought in illegally to produce 76 tonnes of heroin that was then smuggled out, it said.
"This two-way trade of chemicals going in and heroin coming out of the Golden Triangle is a significant challenge to stability and the rule of law," said UN agency's regional representative.
Total poppy cultivation in Myanmar and Laos rose to 63,800 hectares in 2014 from 61,200 in 2013, it said.
