Poppies have long flourished in Myanmar's remote borderlands, where ethnic minority armed groups and criminal outfits refine them into heroin and law enforcement turns a blind eye to the billion-dollar trade, analysts say.
In 2023, Myanmar became the world's biggest producer of opium, harvesting 1,080 tonnes of the narcotic more than double that of previous leader Afghanistan after the Taleban government cracked down on poppy cultivation.
Myanmar produced 995 tonnes of opium in 2024, according to the UN's Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
Esta historia es de la edición December 13, 2024 de The Straits Times.
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Esta historia es de la edición December 13, 2024 de The Straits Times.
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