Narcotics trafficking will increase in South-east Asia
Thursday, August 19, 2021
Significance
The ‘Golden Triangle’ -- centred on the tripoint of Laos, Thailand and Myanmar -- has long been a hub for production of illicit drugs. The area is rife with drug cartels.
Impacts
- Regional authorities will continue to make large narcotics seizures but struggle to curb the trade in precursors used in drug manufacture.
- Laos and Cambodia will find it especially difficult to clamp down on drug trafficking, given their limited resources.
- Estimating the scale of drug production in Myanmar will get harder as governance in the country weakens.