After the Burmese military executed a bloody coup d'état in early 2021, the Asian country was dragged into a humanitarian crisis that grew as the civil war between the rebels and the army progressed.

In addition to thousands of deaths and displacements, the economy collapsed and many families took to the countryside because the only way they could get ahead was to plant an essential flower to meet the always high demand for heroin worldwide: the poppy (or opium poppy), from which opium is extracted.

While thousands of new farmers were popping up in Burma, in Afghanistan, the world's traditional largest opium producer, those crops plummeted after the Taliban seized power and banned the planting of any flowers that could produce the heroin that normally supplied the drug pantries in Europe and the Middle East.

This led to a change in heroin routes, taking as a starting point the usual supplier of synthetic drugs in Southeast Asia,the Golden Triangle, a term coined years ago by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States to refer to the border area where Thailand, Laos and Burma meet.

In the depths of its jungles, local militias, which in recent years had been mainly dedicated to producing methamphetamine, recovered the old business of selling heroin, in the case of Burma, to also finance some ethnic guerrillas fighting against the military coup plotters.

This week, the UN released its annual report on the drug trade, revealing that Myanmar has become the world's largest opium producer. After cultivation in Afghanistan fell by 95% due to the Taliban government's ban, the world's supply has shifted to Burma, just at the time when this country is going through a decisive phase in its internal conflict, with ethnic armed groups forming an unprecedented alliance that is gaining positions from the army.

"The economic, security and governance disruptions that followed the February 2021 military coup are what pushed farmers in remote areas towards opium for a living," explains Jeremy Douglas, the regional coordinator of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the UN agency that produced the latest report.

36% more production

During 2023, Burma has produced around 1,080 tons of opium, increasing its production by 36% and skyrocketing the value of the so-called 'opiate economy' between 1,000 and 2,400 million dollars, which would be equivalent to more than 4% of the Asian country's GDP. The area under poppy cultivation is now estimated to reach 47,000 hectares, an increase of 18% compared to last year.

"Poppy crops accounted for nearly a third of the country's total agricultural production and farmers now earn about 75% more because average flower prices have reached around $355 per kilogram," reads the report, which further notes that poppy cultivation is becoming more sophisticated, with increased investment and better techniques, including better irrigation and the use of fertilizers, which raises crop yields.

All this rise in Burmese cultivation has been possible because in Afghanistan, in April 2022, the Taliban leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, said that poppy cultivation would be sanctioned according to Sharia law and that crops were going to be destroyed.

The measure brought almost all production to a screeching halt by what for many decades was the world's largest supplier (more than 80%) of opium. The Burmese took advantage while Afghan farmers had to switch from poppies to wheat, seeing their economic returns plummet. The UNODC report estimates that Afghanistan produced 330 tons of opium this year.

"Many Burmese farmers, living in areas devastated by the military regime, have had no choice but to return to the cultivation and sale of opium. The coup d'état has also led to an increase in drug trafficking and this affects neighboring countries, where they are already feeling the impact of the crisis in Burma caused by the madness of a power-hungry military," explained Dr. Sasa, one of the most visible faces of the rebellion and Minister of International Cooperation of the Government of National Unity (NUG), in an interview with this newspaper. the coalition of democratic forces that functions as a government in exile.

In Burma, the main opium-growing area is in the northern region of Shan, one of the epicenters of the current fighting between the army and the alliance of armed groups. But much more opium is also being pumped out of other hot conflict zones such as Kachin State, which borders China, and Chin State, near India.

The rebel offensive, dubbed 'Operation 1027', since it began on October 27, has gradually displaced the military from several cities and outposts that they controlled in the north of the country. Allies have regained important border crossings that account for up to 40% of land trade with neighboring countries. They also now control many of the areas where opium is grown.

  • Burma
  • Afghanistan
  • UN
  • Asia