China, Myanmar's top buyer of heroin
China is the top buyer of Myanmar, reputed to be the world's second largest opium producer.
At least 39,800 hectares of opium poppies were grown in Myanmar, producing 610 metric tonnes of opium last year.
This year, a total 51,000 hectares of opium poppies were grown in the country, producing about 690 metric tonnes.
There were 79 heroin cases of seizures from 1992 to present and heroin valued at US$18 billion was destroyed, said Kyaw Kyaw Tun, deputy mister of Home Affairs and chief of the Myanmar police force.
“Heroin addiction in the country is very few. However, it has been smuggled mainly to China and the rest to other international routes via Southeast Asian countries,” said Kyaw Kyaw Tun.
Despite efforts by Home Affairs, opium cultivation has been increasing annually.
About 51,000 hectares of poppy fields were found in the north, south and east of Shan State, Kachin State, Kayah State, Magwe Region and Mandalay Region.
Analysts said the livelihood of about 300,000 people depend on opium cultivation.
Kyaw Kyaw Tun said the ministry and armed groups will team up to stem the extent of opium cultivation in the restive areas of Shan and Kachin states, among others.
The government has started a drug elimination project in 1992 and has been extended until 2019.
Villages cultivating opium need to look for substitute crops and new markets with the assistance of the government and international community.
Four projects of mixed cropping as opium substitute have started in Shan State.
The government is also discussing with ethnic armed groups to allocate farmlands so that opium planters can engage in other forms of agriculture.
According to a UN report, Myanmar is the second largest poppy grower in the world after Afghanistan.
Among Southeast Asian countries, Laos grew 6,800 hectares and Thailand had 209 hectares in 2012. The volume of the opium cultivation in Laos and Thailand accounted for 25 per cent of world total.
“It is vital to eliminate not only the poppy cultivation but also the process of heroin extraction from opium,” said Jason Eligh, country manager of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.
