Amphetamine, methamphetamine, ecstasy, and other similar stimulants have become the number one “drug threat” in the Southeast Asia, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime revealed in a recently released report on the region.
This whopping revelation will come as a surprise to no one who has spent some time in Southeast Asia, especially anyone who’s taken a few cabs in Bangkok.
But the report, which was presented at press conference at the FCCT on Tuesday, did offer some new interesting factoids on new trends in amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) production and usage around here.
Myanmar, traditionally a heroin producer, has seriously diversified into meth over recent years and is now the biggest producer in the region. A “ya baa” (methamphetamine) pill worth 10 baht after production in the country’s separatist Shan State can fetch 200 baht in Bangkok, and new trafficking routes down the Mekong river have begun to flourish as the Thai government cracks down on overland smuggling. On a side note, there has also been a resurgence of heroin production in the country
West Africa and Iran have also gotten into the ATS game with criminal gangs smuggling kilos of ice by air into the Suvarnabumhi. Arrests of West Africans near Nana and Iranians at the airport are well-documented and have been happening with increased regularity. In 2008, for example, eight couriers from Iran were arrested with 27 kilos of ATS, while in 2010, 75 couriers were arrested with 109 kilos.
The UNODC found that the use of ATS was widely accepted in Southeast Asia and didn’t have the negative connotations of some other drugs. “In our region, ATS are often associated with a modern and dynamic lifestyle. Users don’t face the sort of stigma associated with ‘old-fashioned’ modes of drug administration such as injecting or smoking. This demand offers criminals entry into fresh and lucrative markets,” said Gary Lewis, UNODC Regional Representative for East and the Pacific.
Consequently, the report found that the number of meth pills seized in Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and China increased four-fold from 32 million in 2008 to 133 million in 2010. The number of laboratories raided has risen as well from 49 in 2005 to 458 in 2009.
“East and Southeast Asia currently account for around half of all global meth seizures, and the problem is increasing,” says Lewis. “The expansion of the ATS drug trade and the associated high criminal profits pose an increasing threat security and public health.” Regarding usage rates specifically in Bangkok and the capital’s importance as a trafficking hub, Lewis did not have much to say other than that it is a “major market”. When asked who the major drug traffickers and distributors are in Bangkok, all he had to say was, “that’s not something I’m going to get into a discussion about right now.”
