Myanmar Authorities Burn $600 Million in Seized Drugs Nationwide

Myanmar authorities burned more than 50 tons of heroin, opium, ketamine, methamphetamine, marijuana and crystal meth on Friday, destroying drugs with a nationwide street value of $600 million. The largest share went up in flames at a bus station compound on the edge of Yangon, where $321 million worth of 31 different types of drugs were set ablaze. Police Lt.

Col. Aung Myat Soe told reporters at the Yangon site that the street value of drugs destroyed this year was more than double last year’s total. Separate ceremonies were held the same day in Mandalay and in Taunggyi, the capital of Shan state, to mark the United Nations’ International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

@NBCNews reported that the military government announced in January the largest-ever seizures of illicit drugs and manufacturing equipment from 12 sites in northern Shan state. The Ta’ang National Liberation Army, which controls parts of the same region after capturing territory earlier in the civil war, said Thursday it would destroy about $5.5 million worth of seized drugs in its area.

Myanmar has long been one of the world’s largest producers of heroin and methamphetamine, with much of the output destined for East and Southeast Asia.

A military takeover in 2021 triggered a civil war involving the armed forces, pro-democracy groups and ethnic armed organizations. Elections concluded earlier this year gave the military leaders a landslide victory, though international observers said the vote was neither free nor fair and major opposition groups were banned.