Methamphetamine trafficking surges from ‘Golden Triangle’ region | Drugs News
Golden Triangle Meth Seizures Surge Amid Synthetic Drug Boom
Updated May 29, 2025
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reports that methamphetamine seizures in East and Southeast Asia hit a record 236 tons last year, a 24% increase.This surge is fueled by booming synthetic drug production in the Golden triangle, where Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand converge.
Despite Thailand seizing 130 tons of methamphetamine, the first country in the region to surpass 100 tons, trafficking from Myanmar’s shan State is rapidly expanding into Laos and Cambodia, according to the UNODC.
Benedikt Hofmann, UNODC’s acting regional representative, stated that the seizures represent only a fraction of the methamphetamine reaching the market, highlighting unprecedented production and trafficking levels from the Golden Triangle.
Transnational drug gangs are demonstrating agility in countering law enforcement efforts to combat the synthetic drug trade. Myanmar’s ongoing civil war as 2021 has further enabled the drug trade’s expansion.
The UNODC report indicates that drug flows from Myanmar have surged across East and Southeast Asia,increasingly reaching South Asia,especially Northeast India,sence the military takeover in February 2021.
Inshik Sim, UNODC’s lead analyst, noted that countries bordering Myanmar are becoming key trafficking routes. He highlighted the rapidly expanding trafficking route connecting Cambodia with Myanmar through Laos, and the growing meaning of maritime routes linking Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines, with Sabah in Malaysia as a key transit hub.
Evolving, cell-based transnational organized crime groups based in East and #SoutheastAsia are increasingly adopting technologies across the entire drug supply chain while converging with other organized crime activities.
Read more in our latest report: https://t.co/oL416cuZJ3 pic.twitter.com/pqUfX5FmnF
— UNODC southeast Asia-Pacific (@UNODC_SEAP) May 28, 2025
The report also indicates an increase in methamphetamine and ketamine use in the region, with some countries, like Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand, reporting a rise in older drug users and a decline in younger users.
Hofmann suggests that the decline in younger drug users seeking treatment may be due to targeted prevention campaigns.
“It will be key for the region to increase investment in both prevention and supply reduction strategies,” he added.
what’s next
The UNODC urges increased investment in drug prevention and supply reduction strategies to combat the rising synthetic drug trade and methamphetamine use in the Golden Triangle and surrounding regions.