The United Wa State Army (UWSA) has reportedly been destroying many acres of poppy plantations in its controlled areas in Shan State East’s Mongton township, opposite Thailand’s Chiangmai province, saying anyone who complain about its action will be placed under custody, according to local sources. (more…)

Washington—Burma, along with Bolivia and Venezuela, have “failed demonstrably” to meet its counter-drug obligations, US President Barack Obama said in a presidential determination, following which the US State Department said Burma would face additional sanctions. (more…)

The United Nations says the use of synthetic illegal drugs such as ecstasy and methamphetamine has overtaken cocaine and heroin. (more…)

Bangkok – Thai authorities have seized illegal drugs including heroin and methamphetamine worth an estimated $33 million that are believed to have been smuggled from Burma, officials said on Thursday. (more…)

Senior police officials from Thailand were in Naypyidaw yesterday for a meeting with their Burmese counterparts over the perennial issue of cross-border human and drugs’ trafficking. (more…)

Bangkok – Global production of opium fell 38 percent in 2010 as plant disease hit crops in top producer Afghanistan, but output in second-largest producer Myanmar jumped after a big increase in land under cultivation, the United Nations said on Thursday. (more…)

A port on the Naf river near Teknaf alleged to be used by methamphetamine smugglersarriving from Burma (Joseph Allchin) (more…)

Soldiers of the Pha Muang Force seized a large quantity of drugs while on patrol along the border with Burma in Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai on Tuesday night. (more…)

Burmese army troops and local militias in southern Shan state are reportedly taking bribes from local farmers in return for allowing the continued cultivation of opium, despite government assertions that it is stamping out the trade. (more…)

It is easy to miss the spirit gate that guards the entrance to Phiyer, a remote village in northern Laos. Half submerged in weeds beside a field of towering sugarcane, the simple wooden structure resembles a set of miniature rustic goalposts. Look closely, however, and you will notice it is strung with roughly carved swords and assault rifles made of bamboo. The villagers believe the gate wards off disease and evil spirits. (more…)

Phiyer – It is easy to miss the spirit gate that guards the entrance to Phiyer, a remote village in northern Laos. Half submerged in weeds beside a field of towering sugarcane, the simple wooden structure resembles a set of miniature rustic goalposts. Look closely, however, and you will notice it is strung with roughly carved swords and assault rifles made of bamboo. The villagers believe the gate wards off disease and evil spirits. (more…)

Local army and police units in southern Shan State are reportedly imposing a “tax” of up to 80,000 kyat (US $96) per acre on farmers growing opium poppies in exchange for turning a blind eye to  cultivation of the illicit crop, according to local residents. (more…)

Chiang Rai – The young man sits on the railing of the long tail boat, explaining how he smuggles amphetamines into Thailand from Myanmar. (more…)

Chiang Mai – A one-hour gunfight broke out between armed drug runners and Burmese troops near Keng Lap village in Mong Pyak Township in the Golden Triangle area of the Mekong River on Tuesday. (more…)

The UN has been conducting crop-substitution programmes in northeastern Burma and northern Laos since 1996. Although these programmes have helped reduced opium production in Southeast Asia, from 1,176 tonnes in 1996 to 312 in 2006, production has been on the increase since 2006. (more…)

The illegal cultivation of poppies in the neighboring country of Myanmar has doubled during the past three years and is presenting a growing problem for those protecting China’s borders, said a senior police officer from Southwest China’s Yunnan province. (more…)

More young people are becoming addicted to heroin in Burma’s northernmost Kachin state as authorities fail to clamp down on dealers, sources in several towns have warned. (more…)

YANGON, Myanmar – Authorities in Myanmar said they have eradicated about one-sixth of the country’s opium growing fields in the most recent growing season as part of a plan by the ruling junta to eliminate the illicit drug. (more…)

Three military bases in eastern Burma belonging to a pro-government militia group believed to be stocking material for the production of heroin have been raided by the Shan State Army-South (SSA-S). (more…)

Nearly 200 kilograms of what is believed to be pure, northern Burmese heroin has been found in sacks in northern Thailand, with the haul said to be worth some $US32.6 million. (more…)