Drug smugglers in Southeast Asia have found a way past land patrols – the sea route
The region’s drug cartels were more successful in 2022 compared to the previous year in expanding their production and establishing new smuggling routes, according to a United Nations report.
Drug traffickers in Southeast Asia are using the sea to avoid interception by land enforcement carried out in Thailand and China, a United Nations report has found.
Smugglers are moving significant supplies of methamphetamine and other illegal drugs through central Myanmar to the Andaman Sea because less attention is paid to monitoring the waters, the agency warned.
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) highlighted the observations in its latest report on developments and challenges of synthetic drugs in East Asia and Southeast Asia.Read More : Govt keeps price cap on covid drugs, devices Last year, the two regions collectively seized close to 151 tonnes of methamphetamine, with Southeast Asia accounting for 138 tonnes. The region’s drug cartels were more successful in 2022 compared to the previous year in expanding their production and establishing new smuggling routes, said the report.
GOLDEN TRIANGLE
Methamphetamine continues to be the most used drug in East Asia and Southeast Asia.
Myanmar's remote eastern Shan state remains a top crystal meth or “ice” producer due to poor law enforcement.
A huge share of drugs is shipped out via the borders of Laos, Myanmar and Thailand, an area known as the Golden Triangle.
The three Mekong nations seized about 113 tonnes of methamphetamine last year, accounting for three-quarters of total seizures of the highly-addictive drug in the region.
Authorities in China and Thailand have stepped up enforcement in the Golden Triangle in recent years, and have since seen a drop in seizures.
To evade capture, organised crime groups have learnt to “anticipate, adapt and try to circumvent” law enforcement by diversifying their trade routes, in particular shifting from land to maritime, said the report.
THE SEA ROUTE
Shipments of drugs from Myanmar sail down the Andaman Sea, are offloaded in Thailand and smuggled into Malaysia by land, said the UNODC’s Southeast Asia and the Pacific representative Jeremy Douglas.
The maritime route makes it easier for smugglers to pass supplies to each other by attaching tracking devices to packages and dropping them into the sea to be fished out later, he added.
“They dump (drugs) over the side with a radio beacon or a GPS tracker. Ships rendezvous with the coordinates and they pick up the load and on they go,” said Mr Douglas.
“So, the issue of drugs is literally sailing by.”
Smugglers are also able to conduct ship-to-ship transfers on the high seas, outside of any country’s jurisdiction.
Small boats are delivering illegal substances to huge shipping vessels capable of covering large distances as far away as Australia, the Philippines and Taiwan, he said.
CHALLENGE FOR AUTHORITIES
The increasingly robust drug trade via the sea route is posing a big challenge for authorities.
Southeast Asia sees thousands of fishing vessels ply the regional waters regularly, making it impossible to inspect every single boat.
Beyond meth, the region also seized a record 27.4 tons of ketamine last year, a sharp spike of 167 per cent compared to 2021.
The UN agency pointed out that the illicit drug trafficking patterns in late 2022 and early this year are starting to look similar to that of 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cambodia is also emerging as a key transit and production hub for the regional drug trade, the report said. Industrial-scale ketamine labs and facilities found across the country have “set off alarm bells” in the region, it added.
Despite crackdown efforts from governments, street prices of meth fell to record lows in 2022 across the region, indicating supply was uninterrupted, the report found.
“The most powerful regional trafficking networks are able to operate with a high degree of certainty they can and will not be stopped, and they are able to dictate the terms and conditions of the market as a result,” the UN anti-drug body said.
Drug traffickers in Southeast Asia are using the sea to avoid interception by land enforcement carried out in Thailand and China, a United Nations report has found.
Smugglers are moving significant supplies of methamphetamine and other illegal drugs through central Myanmar to the Andaman Sea because less attention is paid to monitoring the waters, the agency warned.
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) highlighted the observations in its latest report on developments and challenges of synthetic drugs in East Asia and Southeast Asia.
GOLDEN TRIANGLE
Methamphetamine continues to be the most used drug in East Asia and Southeast Asia.
Myanmar's remote eastern Shan state remains a top crystal meth or “ice” producer due to poor law enforcement.
A huge share of drugs is shipped out via the borders of Laos, Myanmar and Thailand, an area known as the Golden Triangle.
The three Mekong nations seized about 113 tonnes of methamphetamine last year, accounting for three-quarters of total seizures of the highly-addictive drug in the region.
Authorities in China and Thailand have stepped up enforcement in the Golden Triangle in recent years, and have since seen a drop in seizures.
To evade capture, organised crime groups have learnt to “anticipate, adapt and try to circumvent” law enforcement by diversifying their trade routes, in particular shifting from land to maritime, said the report.
THE SEA ROUTE
Shipments of drugs from Myanmar sail down the Andaman Sea, are offloaded in Thailand and smuggled into Malaysia by land, said the UNODC’s Southeast Asia and the Pacific representative Jeremy Douglas.
The maritime route makes it easier for smugglers to pass supplies to each other by attaching tracking devices to packages and dropping them into the sea to be fished out later, he added.
“They dump (drugs) over the side with a radio beacon or a GPS tracker. Ships rendezvous with the coordinates and they pick up the load and on they go,” said Mr Douglas.
“So, the issue of drugs is literally sailing by.”
Smugglers are also able to conduct ship-to-ship transfers on the high seas, outside of any country’s jurisdiction.
Small boats are delivering illegal substances to huge shipping vessels capable of covering large distances as far away as Australia, the Philippines and Taiwan, he said.
CHALLENGE FOR AUTHORITIES
The increasingly robust drug trade via the sea route is posing a big challenge for authorities.
Southeast Asia sees thousands of fishing vessels ply the regional waters regularly, making it impossible to inspect every single boat.
Beyond meth, the region also seized a record 27.4 tons of ketamine last year, a sharp spike of 167 per cent compared to 2021.
The UN agency pointed out that the illicit drug trafficking patterns in late 2022 and early this year are starting to look similar to that of 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cambodia is also emerging as a key transit and production hub for the regional drug trade, the report said. Industrial-scale ketamine labs and facilities found across the country have “set off alarm bells” in the region, it added.
Despite crackdown efforts from governments, street prices of meth fell to record lows in 2022 across the region, indicating supply was uninterrupted, the report found.
“The most powerful regional trafficking networks are able to operate with a high degree of certainty they can and will not be stopped, and they are able to dictate the terms and conditions of the market as a result,” the UN anti-drug body said.
Source: www.channelnewsasia.com
