Myanmar is now the world’s largest producer of opium, overtaking Afghanistan, a UN report says.
Its opium production this year is estimated to rise by 36% to 1,080 tonnes, far ahead of the 330 tonnes Afghanistan reportedly produced.
Poppy cultivation in Afghanistan dropped by 95% after a drug ban by the ruling Taliban last year.
Meanwhile, cultivation has expanded in Myanmar, where a brutal civil war, has made it a lucrative source of income.
“The economic, security and governance disruptions that followed the military takeover of February 2021 continue to drive farmers in remote areas towards opium to make a living,” says Jeremy Douglas, regional representative of the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which authored the report.
Opium, the key ingredient for the hard drug heroin., has been cultivated in Myanmar for decades, where it has funded insurgent groups fighting the government.
Credit: bbc.com
