UN body flags threat from rising use of heroin in South-east Asia

Tokyo

OPIUM cultivation is again on the rise in South-east Asia, even as trafficking and consumption of heroin, an opium-derived drug, is a growing problem in countries including Singapore.

A report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has said that, because of the closer economic integration of the region, trans-national organised crime syndicates have been able to step up their activities.

The Vienna-based UNODC said that, despite continued eradication efforts, opium production remained a significant challenge to sustainable development in the region.

Poppy cultivation in the "Golden Triangle" of Myanmar and Laos rose…