Latest news with #BenediktHofmann
Telegraph
08-06-2025
- Telegraph
Asia's Golden Triangle was once the opium capital of the world. Now the drug of choice is meth
The soldiers drop to the forest floor as their lieutenant barks an order and the men quickly meld into the lush hillside's dense foliage, weapons poised. 'This part is about patience,' says Lt Ketsopon Nopsiri, as he inspects his men's drill positions on a misty Saturday morning. 'Once we have the intel, we scout a place for the ambush. Sometimes it's hours before the smugglers come. But then everything happens very rapidly.' In these mountainous pine forests in the heart of the Golden Triangle, Thai soldiers are embroiled in a sometimes deadly standoff, as they struggle to stem the surging flow of illicit synthetic drugs flooding across the unmarked border with Myanmar. In 2024, Thailand seized a record 130 tons of methamphetamine, according to a report last week from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which uses confiscated drugs as a proxy for the scale of production and trafficking. That's close to half of the 236 tons seized in East and Southeast Asia as a whole – itself a record figure, and 24 per cent higher than 2023. 'While these seizures reflect, in part, successful law enforcement efforts, we are clearly seeing unprecedented levels of methamphetamine production and trafficking from the Golden Triangle,' says Benedikt Hofmann, the UNODC's acting regional representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific. 'We are looking at the world's most active synthetic drug production zone, here in this region,' he adds later. The vast majority of these drugs come from Myanmar's Shan state, where jungle labs are turning precursor chemicals from India and China into an 'almost never-ending' stream of synthetic drugs. While production pre-dated the military coup in 2021, these workshops have gone into overdrive since the country descended into a brutal civil war. The heavily sanctioned military regime is increasingly reliant on proceeds from criminal activities – as are the armed groups fighting with and against them – while crime syndicates have exploited rising lawlessness to cement their influence. According to the Global Organized Crime Index, Myanmar now ranks as the world's top destination for organised, transnational crime – including human trafficking and scam centres, wildlife smuggling and illegal rare earth mines. And, of course, the drugs. The opium trade that first made the Golden Triangle notorious has made a comeback, but there is now also 'industrial-scale production' of synthetic drugs, says UNODC. Alongside methamphetamine tablets, crystal meth (ice) and yaba (a very cheap combination of methamphetamine and caffeine popular in Southeast Asia), labs are also manufacturing ketamine, plus concoctions of various synthetic drugs known as 'happy water', 'party lollipops' and 'k-powdered milk'. These are eventually transported across Asia and the Pacific, to countries as far away as Japan, Australia and New Zealand, via trafficking networks operated by what experts say are 'agile, well-resourced' criminal gangs. But often, their first port of call is Thailand – and the porous border that spans either side of Mae Sai town, where Lt Ketsopon and his unit are among the troops attempting to intercept smugglers. 'People cross the border on foot with backpacks full of drugs,' says Lt Ketsopon, as we trudge along a remote stretch of the 22km border which his unit at Doi Changmub monitors. 'The paths are not easy, and we don't have enough manpower in comparison to the region we have to cover.' When the unit does encounter smugglers – usually in night time ambushes, organised with intelligence from a network of informants on both sides of the border – the clashes can be deadly. Across Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai provinces in northern Thailand, there were 37 confrontations between October 1 and April 30, and 13 smugglers died, according to military data from the Pha Mueng Taskforce. Lt Ketsopon's unit was involved in one of these deadly clashes, at 5am on a Sunday morning in February. 'We never fire a weapon before the other side. In our playbook you don't do that. But we said we were officers of the law – and soon, 15 to 20 people were firing at us in the dark … with handmade guns and AK47s,' he says. The clash, which he thinks lasted no more than 10 minutes, did not bring arrests – the surviving smugglers fled back into Myanmar, where Thai soldiers cannot follow. But the troops seized 15 rucksacks of drugs, with three million methamphetamine pills inside. Despite record low prices amid a flooded market, this haul would still have been worth as much as $8.1 million (£5.9m) if sold in Thailand, where a single tablet costs between 80 cents and $2.7 (between 50p and £2), according to the UNODC report. Prices are as low as 60 cents in Myanmar, but jump to $19.3 per tablet in China, and $50 in South Korea. In another incident in March, soldiers and police at one of the countless checkpoints dotted across Chiang Rai region intercepted 1,500kg of crystal meth concealed inside oil barrels in a military-style vehicle with a fake number plate. In Thailand, the average per gram price is $24 – making this shipment alone worth some $36 million. At the Pha Mueng Forces' military headquarters in Chiang Rai, Colonel Anywach Punyanum says drug trafficking 'has grown exponentially' in recent years – with 52 million methamphetamine tablets, 723kg of ice, 20kg of opium and 5.3kg of heroin seized between October and April. 'In the past, to catch like 100,000 methamphetamine tablets was a big deal. Now we catch more than a million pills, and it's just a normal day,' he says. 'It's getting a lot worse.' It's like a game of whack-a-mole. Military units constantly patrol chunks of the border, working with informants to ambush supply routes, often in collaboration with the police. But it's a long, porous border and the smugglers are smart. No matter how much authorities confiscate, the drugs keep coming. 'Countries in the Mekong, especially Thailand, are seizing about the same amount of methamphetamines as we are seeing between Latin America and the United States,' says UNODC's Mr Hofmann. 'But if you look at the capacities, at the resources available to make those seizures, it's very different.' Experts note that there are significant overlaps with the criminal syndicates running scam compounds and illegal online casinos in the region, and there is no obvious way of stopping production of the drugs at source in war-torn Myanmar. 'The volume of drugs being produced and coming across [the Thai-Myanmar border] is almost never-ending. The nature of synthetic drugs means that they're very easily producible, easily replaceable, and relatively cheap to manufacture,' says Mr Hofmann. Two changes could help tackle the issue: cutting off the chemicals going into Myanmar that are used in the production process; and resolving the insecurities plaguing Myanmar. But neither seem likely. 'It doesn't matter how well you organise a response on the Thai side, it is very difficult to see the same happening on the Myanmar side. So finding a solution to the situation in Myanmar needs to be part of the solution for the drug issues this region faces,' says Mr Hofmann. 'But at the end of the day, this is a supply driven market – drug traffickers steer the supply, but people somewhere are using these vast volumes of synthetic drugs,' he adds. Exactly how drug use has shifted across the region is not yet well understood, but UNODC says it seems to be increasing in countries along the trafficking routes. In Thailand, for instance, household drug use surveys between 2016 and 2024 suggest methamphetamine tablet use is 'rapidly expanding', the UN agency said. Many of the soldiers on patrol in northern Thailand's mountains have witnessed these issues first-hand. Troops say the damage wrought by drugs at home and abroad is a major motivation for them as they spend long nights hiding in the forest's undergrowth. 'I've seen people in my communities using drugs and hallucinating, or starting to hurt their own family members,' says Lt Ketsopon, as we climb the hill back towards the military trucks after a successful set of drills. 'When I was growing up, I thought being a soldier would be about fighting and battling,' he adds. 'But I think this is an important thing to be a part of; to stop these drugs getting into the country.'
Scoop
31-05-2025
- Scoop
Rise In Production And Trafficking Of Synthetic Drugs From The Golden Triangle, New Report Shows
Bangkok (Thailand), 28 May 2025 – The illicit manufacture and trafficking of synthetic drugs from the Golden Triangle have grown exponentially, according to a report released today by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The explosive growth has led to a record amount of methamphetamine seizures in East and Southeast Asia, totaling 236 tons, marking a 24 per cent increase compared to 2023. 'The 236 tons represent only the amount seized, and just so much methamphetamine is actually reaching the market,' said Benedikt Hofmann, UNODC Acting Regional Representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific. 'While these seizures reflect, in part, successful law enforcement efforts, we are clearly seeing unprecedented levels of methamphetamine production and trafficking from the Golden Triangle, in particular Shan State.' The report, titled Synthetic Drugs in East and Southeast Asia: Latest Developments and Challenges, shows that the production and trafficking of methamphetamine in Shan State, Myanmar, have significantly increased since 2021. 'The ongoing crisis in Myanmar is further increasing the need for proceeds from the drug trade, but at the same time there is a degree of stability in certain parts of the country, especially those known for large-scale synthetic drug production,' Hofmann said. 'This combination of conflict and stability has created favourable conditions for the expansion of drug production, impacting countries across the region and beyond.' Thailand remained the main transit and destination point for methamphetamine trafficked from Myanmar and recorded the largest quantity of methamphetamine seizures in the region, including one billion tablets of yaba – a combination of methamphetamine and caffeine popular in many parts of Southeast Asia due to its easy availability and low price. At the same time, transnational drug trafficking groups have increasingly exploited emerging trafficking routes to evade law enforcement detection. 'The trafficking route connecting Cambodia with Myanmar, primarily through Lao PDR, has been rapidly expanding,' said Inshik Sim, Lead Analyst at the UNODC Regional Office for Southeast Asia and the Pacific. 'Another increasingly significant corridor involves maritime trafficking routes linking Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines, with Sabah in Malaysia serving as a key transit hub.' The report highlights the evolving nature of transnational drug trafficking groups operating in East and Southeast Asia. These groups have demonstrated remarkable agility in reacting to law enforcement pressure, as shown by the spread of production sites for ketamine and related precursor chemicals, which has now reached most of the lower Mekong countries. Authorities in Viet Nam dismantled an industrial-scale facility in March 2025. Another example is the rise in the illicit manufacture of pharmaceutical products, especially etomidate and its analogues, designed to evade controls on novel substances. The report also underscores the growing use of technology across the entire chain of drug-related crimes, from planning, coordination, and the execution of trafficking to financial transactions and money laundering linked to the synthetic drug trade. 'With the surge in synthetic drug production and trafficking in the region, most countries report an overall increase in the use of methamphetamine and ketamine,' Hofmann said. 'However, in some countries, we are seeing a decline in the number of younger drug users admitted to treatment facilities, which may be attributable to drug use prevention campaigns targeting youth populations,' he added. 'It will be key for the region to increase investment in both prevention and supply reduction strategies.'
GMA Network
29-05-2025
- GMA Network
Meth seizures in East, Southeast Asia at record high — UN
BANGKOK, Thailand - Seizures of methamphetamine in East and Southeast Asia were at record highs last year, a UN agency said Wednesday, with a "combination of conflict and stability" in Myanmar driving illicit drug production. Seizures of methamphetamine across the region totalled 236 tons in 2024, marking an "exponential" increase of 24 percent compared to 2023, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said in a statement citing a new report. The number represents "only the amount seized, and just so much methamphetamine is actually reaching the market", Benedikt Hofmann, UNODC acting representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific region, said in the statement. The largest quantities of methamphetamine seized in the region were recorded in Thailand, the biggest destination and transit hub for the synthetic drug. In neighboring Myanmar, a "degree of stability" in areas of the country known for large-scale synthetic drug production combined with an ongoing crisis following a 2021 military coup had driven the "unprecedented" growth, Hofmann said. The spread of ketamine production sites to most of the lower Mekong countries showed the agility of transnational drug trafficking groups in evading law enforcement, UNODC said in the statement. "The trafficking route connecting Cambodia with Myanmar, primarily through Lao PDR, has been rapidly expanding," said Inshik Sim, lead analyst at the UNODC regional office, adding that maritime routes linking Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines had become another significant trafficking corridor. — Agence France-Presse
Al Jazeera
29-05-2025
- Health
- Al Jazeera
Methamphetamine trafficking surges from ‘Golden Triangle' region
Drug production and trafficking are continuing to surge in the infamous 'Golden Triangle', where the borders of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand meet, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has warned in a new report on the scale of the regional trade in synthetic drugs. The UNODC said a record 236 tonnes of methamphetamine were seized last year in the East and Southeast Asia regions, marking a 24 percent increase in the amount of the narcotic seized compared with the previous year. While Thailand became the first country in the region to seize more than 100 tonnes of methamphetamine in a single year last year – interdicting a total of 130 tonnes – trafficking of the drug from Myanmar's lawless Shan State is rapidly expanding in Laos and Cambodia, the UNODC said. 'The 236 tons represent only the amount seized; much more methamphetamine is actually reaching the market,' the UNODC's acting regional representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, Benedikt Hofmann, said in a statement. 'While these seizures reflect, in part, successful law enforcement efforts, we are clearly seeing unprecedented levels of methamphetamine production and trafficking from the Golden Triangle, in particular Shan State,' Hofmann said. Transnational drug gangs operating in East and Southeast Asia are also showing 'remarkable agility' in countering attempts by regional law enforcement to crack down on the booming trade in synthetic drugs. Myanmar's grinding civil war, which erupted in mid-2021, has also provided favourable conditions for an expansion of the drug trade. 'Since the military takeover in Myanmar in February 2021, flows of drugs from the country have surged across not only East and Southeast Asia, but also increasingly into South Asia, in particular Northeast India,' the report states. The UNODC's Inshik Sim, the lead analyst for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, said countries neighbouring Myanmar are becoming key trafficking routes for drugs produced in the Golden Triangle. 'The trafficking route connecting Cambodia with Myanmar, primarily through Laos PDR, has been rapidly expanding,' Sim said, using the acronym that is part of Laos's official name, the People's Democratic Republic. 'Another increasingly significant corridor involves maritime trafficking routes linking Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines, with Sabah in Malaysia serving as a key transit hub,' he said. Evolving, cell-based transnational organized crime groups based in East and #SoutheastAsia are increasingly adopting technologies across the entire drug supply chain while converging with other organized crime activities. Read more in our latest report: — UNODC Southeast Asia-Pacific (@UNODC_SEAP) May 28, 2025The UNODC report also notes that while most countries in the region have reported an overall increase in the use of methamphetamine and ketamine – a powerful sedative – the number of drug users in the older age group has grown in some nations. 'Some countries in the region, such as Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand, have reported consecutive increases in the number of older drug users, while the number of younger users has declined,' the UNODC report states, adding that the age trend needed to be studied further. The UNODC's Hofmann said the decline in the number of younger drug users admitted for treatment may be due to targeted drug use prevention campaigns. 'It will be key for the region to increase investment in both prevention and supply reduction strategies,' he added.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Southeast Asia's illicit methamphetamine trade is at a record high, the UN says
BANGKOK (AP) — The illicit trade in methamphetamine and other dangerous drugs is growing by leaps and bounds in Southeast Asia, with record levels of seizures serving as an indicator of the scale, U.N experts on the drug trade said in a new report Wednesday. Methamphetamine seizures, primarily in Southeast Asia, totaled 236 tons in 2024, a 24% increase over 2023. The increase applied to both crystal methamphetamine and methamphetamine tablets, the latter priced for a mass market, going for as little as U.S. $0.60 apiece in Myanmar. About 1 billion tablets were seized last year in Thailand. 'The sustained flood of methamphetamine to markets in the region has been driven by industrial-scale production and trafficking networks operated by agile, well-resourced transnational organized criminal groups,' says the report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, or UNODC. 'We are clearly seeing unprecedented levels of methamphetamine production and trafficking from the Golden Triangle, in particular Myanmar's Shan State," Benedikt Hofmann, UNODC acting regional representative, said in a statement. The 'Golden Triangle,' where the borders of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand meet, is famous for the production of opium and heroin, which flourished largely because the remote location and lax law enforcement. In recent decades, methamphetamine has supplanted it because it is easier to make on an industrial scale. Myanmar's civil war fueled trafficking growth What has turbocharged growth of the methamphetamine trade has been the political situation in Myanmar, where the army's February 2021 seizure of power has led to civil war. That has caused the flow of drugs to surge 'across not only East and Southeast Asia, but also increasingly into South Asia, in particular Northeast India,' the new report says. At the same time in Myanmar 'there is a degree of stability in certain parts of the country, especially those known for large-scale synthetic drug production,' Hofmann said, adding that the combination has 'created favorable conditions for the expansion of drug production." The report says traffickers have diversified routes to markets, both within Southeast Asia and beyond. Drugs are increasingly trafficked from Myanmar to Cambodia, mostly through Laos, as well as though maritime routes 'linking Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines, with Sabah in Malaysia serving as a key transit hub.' Other drugs enter from beyond the region The report says some drugs enter the region from outside, including the 'Golden Crescent,' another major drug production area covering remote mountainous regions of Afghanistan, Pakistan and eastern Iran. Crystal methamphetamine from the Golden Crescent has been found in Southeast Asian nations including the Philippines, as well as in Japan and South Korea. North America has been the origin for methamphetamine found in Indonesia, Hong Kong, China, Japan, the Philippines and South Korea, involving trafficking by Mexican cartels, the report says. Traffickers have 'shown business acumen by leveraging digital tools and emerging technologies to facilitate and profit from the illicit trade in synthetic drugs,' it says, and some trafficking groups infiltrate legitimate businesses or set up front companies. One major development is the growing convergence between trafficking organized crime groups and those offering services such as underground banking, the report says.
