Myanmar Police Force destroyed narcotic drugs worth over US$839 million by burning them on the 33rd International Anti-narcotics Day which falls on June 26.
Myanmar Police Force destroyed these narcotic drugs in burning ceremonies in Yangon, Mandalay, Taunggyi, Lashio and Kutkai.
The narcotic drugs burnt included over 3,000 kg of opium, over 1,000 kg of heroin, over 300 million tablets of stimulants, over 10,000 kg of ice, over 809 kg of marijuana, over 1,400 kg of Ketamine and 50 different chemical precursors used in drug manufacturing.
Myanmar Police Force, Yangon northern district police chief Pol. Lt. Col. Hla Wai said, “The highest seizure of stimulant drugs was in Rakhine State. Mostly Rakhine State Police Force and Police Border Guard Force could arrest and crack down on the drug gangs in these cases, though the number of cases is low.”
The narcotic drugs that were burned and destroyed today are reportedly seized by No. 1 Border Guard Police Force, Highway Police Force and Myanmar Police Forces in Yangon, Tanintharyi, Bago, Ayeyarwady Regions and Rakhine and Mone States.
In yesterday’s ceremony, Myanmar Police Force destroyed narcotic drugs worth over US$144 million by burning at an international anti-narcotic day ceremony held near Dagon-Ayeyar express bus terminal in Hlinetharyar Township, Yangon Region.
Similarly narcotic drugs worth over US$40 million are destroyed in Mandalay, over US$232 million worth drugs in Taunggyi, over US$420 million worth drugs in Lashio and US$2.3 million worth of drugs in Kutkain were destroyed.
The narcotic drugs destroyed on the 33rd International Anti-narcotic Drug Day which falls in June 26 is likely to be the highest in value terms in Myanmar.
Yangon Region Police Chief Pol. Brig. Gen. Myo Min Htike said, “We could seize and destroy narcotic drugs more than last year by over US$538 million so that we could seize narcotic drugs in 2020 about three times that of last year 2019.”
According to the report released by United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in 2018, despite of fall in opium cultivation, Myanmar could still illicitly produce heroin and earn US$1 billion from heroin trafficking and export in 2019.
