Drug Agents with the Myanmar National Police recovered a significant amount of liquid fentanyl. This is the first recovery of the deadly drug in the notorious Golden Triangle of of Southeast Asia. The Golden Triangle refers to the opium producing region of which includes Myanmar, Laos and Thailand.
The seizure shows that there is an increasing demand for the drug in the region. This should be of special concern to our New Zealand and Australian followers. The seizure of fentanyl occurred in the Shan State region according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
“Big international syndicates already active in the Golden Triangle are well positioned to take advantage of regional heroin demand and produce synthetic opioids alongside other drugs,” the agency’s regional representative, Jeremy Douglas, said in a statement.
The Fentanyl Lab was “Off the Charts” in Size
The UN agency took note that Asia is poised to make moves on other fentanyl suppliers around the globe. “What has been unearthed through this operation is truly off the charts, and it is clear that a network of production facilities like those found would not be possible without the involvement and financial backing of serious transnational organized criminal groups,” Douglas said.
Massive amounts of methamphetamine and other drugs and their components were also seized in what the agency described as “one of the largest and most successful counter-narcotics operations in the history of the country and region.”
According to the UN, besides 990 gallons of methyl fentanyl, police seized 193.5 million methamphetamine tablets weighting 17.4 tons; more than 1,100 pounds of crystal methamphetamine; 644 lb. of heroin; 1,296 lb. of opium; 108 lb. of morphine; and 15 lb. of ketamine.
