Overview

• Methamphetamine seizures in East and Southeast Asia reached 236 tons in 2024, a 24 percent rise over 2023, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime reports.
• UNODC attributes the surge to well-resourced transnational criminal groups running industrial-scale production facilities, especially in the Golden Triangle’s Shan State.
• Myanmar’s 2021 military coup and ensuing conflict have created pockets of de facto stability that facilitate large-scale drug manufacturing.
• Traffickers have expanded overland routes through Laos to Cambodia and maritime corridors via Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.
• Drug shipments sourced from Afghanistan’s Golden Crescent and North America are infiltrating East Asian markets as syndicates use digital platforms and front companies to evade authorities.