South-East Asia is awash in drugs
The coup in Myanmar has helped cartels ramp up production
OCTOBER WAS a stellar month for the Lao police. On the 27th an officer in Bokeo, a northern province, waved down a truck packed with Lao Brewery beer crates. Contained inside them were 55.6m methamphetamine pills and over 1.5 tonnes of crystal meth, a more potent version of the drug. It was Asia’s largest drug bust ever, according to the UN. Just the week before, the police had seized 16m amphetamine tablets during two operations in the same area.
This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “On a high”
Asia December 11th 2021
- South-East Asia is awash in drugs
- Can Facebook be blamed for pogroms against Rohingyas in Myanmar?
- Many North Korean women outearn their husbands, but still do the chores
- Bipin Rawat, India’s chief of defence staff, is killed in a helicopter crash
- Myanmar’s generals want Aung San Suu Kyi locked up forever
More from Asia
AUKUS enters its fifth year. How is the pact faring?
It has weathered two big political changes. What about Donald Trump’s return?
Joe Biden’s mixed legacy on Japan
Security co-operation flourished, but a scuppered steel deal leaves a sour taste
Indonesia nearly has a monopoly on nickel. What next?
Prabowo Subianto, the new president, wants to create an electric car supply chain
What a 472-year-old corpse reveals about India
St Francis Xavier is both venerated and despised
Pakistan’s army puts a former intelligence chief on trial
General Faiz Hameed is an ally of Imran Khan, who is currently behind bars
By resisting arrest, South Korea’s president challenges democracy
His attempt to impose martial law failed. But Yoon Suk Yeol is still causing trouble