New regime, same old drug myths in Myanmar
It is high time that UNODC and other international agencies get serious and tackle the root causes of the scourge of drug production, smuggling and addiction
The Irrawaddy (Myanmar)
Tuesday, September 7, 2021
Tuesday, September 7, 2021
In the late 1980s as well as in Myanmar today, the military (or Tatmadaw) and the police could hardly be described as anti-drug crusaders. On the contrary, Myanmar’s security forces have a long history of working together with drug-trafficking gangs and the benefits have been both economic—personal gains for officers—and tactical: drug traffickers are useful intelligence assets and can be used to fight the country’s ethnic rebel armies. The first coup in 1962 and the introduction of the so-called “Burmese Way to Socialism” had a devastating impact on the country’s economy at the same time as it caused Myanmar’s ethnic rebellions to flare anew.
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