Meth production and trafficking is surging in countries in the Lower Mekong region — Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar — according to a new report by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released on 30 May.
And that is enabling Asia’s drug cartels to flood markets with billions of dollars worth of synthetic narcotics even as the global economy continues to struggle with the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The scale and reach of the methamphetamine and synthetic drug trade in East and Southeast Asia is staggering and yet it can continue to expand if the region does not change approach and address the root causes that have allowed it to get to this point,” said Jeremy Douglas, UNODC’s regional representative for Southeast Asia.
Organized crime groups have taken advantage of recent political instability, such as a military coup in Myanmar, that has left some border regions largely…
