NCJ Number
198558
Journal
Jane's Intelligence Review Volume: 14 Issue: 7 Dated: July 2002 Pages: 32-34
Date Published
July 2002
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This article outlines drug trafficking routes for illegal drugs in Southeast Asia.
Abstract
The author explains that heroin from Myanmar was previously smuggled mainly through Thailand until the mid-1980’s, when Thailand initiated a crackdown on drugs. Since the early 1990’s, drugs from Myanmar have traversed new routes throughout Southeast Asia and into other parts of the continent. The author traces the heroin and methamphetamine trafficking routes through southern China and northeast India. The old route through Thailand is active again since the swell in popularity of methamphetamine. Thailand is described as the first consumer market for these “mad pills.” It is easier for methamphetamine smugglers to cross into Thailand unnoticed because they tend to carry smaller amounts of pills on them than other smugglers. Drug traffickers are also using different routes into Thailand, such as through Laos. Since the year 2000, trafficking routes through southern Thailand have also been popular. Finally, in this article, the author draws a correlation between the increase in opiates trafficking, the increase in opiate consumption, and the explosion of AIDS and HIV throughout Asia.