Myanmar junta destroys drugs worth 408 million euros Horror accident: airport staff sucked in and killed by engine

In crisis-ravaged Myanmar, authorities have publicly set fire to seized drugs worth more than $446 million (€408 million). Myanmar’s Central Drug Abuse Control Committee (CCDAC) said on Monday evening (local time) that the military junta had destroyed more than 100 different types of narcotics on the occasion of the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Drug Trafficking, including large quantities of opium, heroin, methamphetamine and cannabis Facebook along. Cremation ceremonies took place in the largest city of Yangon (formerly Rangoon), as well as Mandalay and Taunggyi.

The former Burma has descended into chaos and violence since the military returned to power in February 2021. “Myanmar’s big drug-burning show cannot hide the fact that the drug trade has exploded since the junta came to power illegally,” Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch (HRW), told the German news agency on Tuesday. “Unfortunately, the impact will increase both abuse and addiction, not only among the people of Myanmar, but also in neighboring countries and across the region.”

The border area between Myanmar, northern Thailand and Laos – also known as the “Golden Triangle” – is one of the regions in the world where most drugs are manufactured and trafficked. In January, the United Nations announced that opium cultivation in Myanmar had increased significantly in the wake of the military coup. Experts from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime also saw a direct link to the political and economic chaos in the Southeast Asian country. (sda/dpa)