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Myanmar's opium crop plummets, but UN sees no victory over Asia's narco-boom

Published Wed, Dec 6, 2017 · 09:50 PM
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Bangkok

A "DRAMATIC" drop in opium cultivation in Myanmar underscored a regional boom in demand for illegal synthetic drugs such as methamphetamine, which many Asian countries are struggling to combat, a senior United Nations (UN) official said on Wednesday.

The area under opium poppy cultivation dropped by a quarter between 2015 and 2017, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said in a report released on Wednesday.

"The drop in opium production is welcome, but it is not a victory," Jeremy Douglas, the UNODC's chief in South-east Asia and the Pacific, told Reuters. "It appears to confirm that the shift in the regional drug market to s…

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