Myanmar destroys illicit drugs worth $76 million

Around 10 tonnes of all kinds of illicit substances were incinerated in four provinces across Myanmar to mark the UN's international anti-drugs day today, agency reports said.

Since 2008, Myanmar has seen a steep rise in amphetamine seizures, with the number of tablets seized rising from 1.1 million two years ago to 23.8 million in 2009, the report said. Around 7.6 million tablets were recovered in the first four months of 2010, according to figures released by the police.

During an event to mark the UN's International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, in Naypyidaw, home affairs minister Maung Oo said most of the paraphernalia and chemicals used in the manufacture of psychotropic substances had been seized from the north-eastern parts of the country during 2009.

Meanwhile, minority groups are believed to be into the drugs trade amid an increasing sense of vulnerability as Myanmar prepares for the first elections in two decades, the report said.

Minorities in Shan and Karen states have taken to arms to fight the government along the eastern borders of the country, claiming to be victims of neglect and mistreatment.

The country is also the second largest producer of opiates in the world after Afghanistan, though a declining trend in drugs use has been in evidence since the 1990s.

According to Maungh Oo, the production of both opium and heroin compared to that of the last decades had markedly declined, the report said.

He added that the government was working with China for monitoring of opium cultivation in northern parts of Myanmar with the help of satellites.