SE-ASIA-opium-poppy-2014-web

Introduction
produced in several parts of Myanmar, but success in reducing cultivation in some places has
limited production to Shan State, 20 which hosts a number of insurgent groups.
Heroin and opium are a staple of the economy of Shan State and insurgent finance, and are
extremely difficult to dislodge. However, insurgent groups are not always directly responsible for
the production of opium and heroin. It is more often the case that insurgent groups provide de
facto protection to the actual cultivators and traffickers in return for payment. Some heroin is
moved by land across Lao PDR and Thailand, some is trafficked by sea through ports in southern
Myanmar, but the majority is trafficked by land, including by individual couriers, directly across
the border to Yunnan province in China, 21 where these small loads are consolidated before being
trafficked further within China and overseas. 22 The trafficking between Myanmar and China flows
in both directions, as the processing of heroin requires precursor chemicals, particularly acetic
anhydride. 23
The flow of heroin from Afghanistan into the region follows a different pattern, however.
Xinxiang Uyghur Autonomous region is the main distribution hub for heroin trafficked overland
into western China, while Guangzhou, in Guangdong province, is the entry point for air cargo
trafficking. There are a large number of smaller flows by land, sea and air from these two major
sources to the other countries in Southeast Asia. 24 Malaysia has also become a transhipment hub
for opiates from Afghanistan, and Cambodia a transit country for heroin shipped to Australia. 25
20
Southeast Asia Opium Survey 2013.
21
UNODC, World Drug Report 2014.
22
Southeast Asia Opium Survey 2013.
23
UNODC, Transnational Organized Crime in Southeast Asia and the Pacific: A Threat Assessment (TOCTA) 2013.
24
UNODC, Transnational Organized Crime in Southeast Asia and the Pacific: A Threat Assessment (TOCTA) 2013.
25
UNODC, World Drug Report 2013.
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