Myanmar opium cultivation surged 33% amid violence, UN finds

By DAVID RISING
Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP) — The United Nations says the production of opium in Myanmar has flourished since the military’s seizure of power. The cultivation of poppies is up by a third in the past year as eradication efforts have dropped off and the faltering economy has led more people toward the drug trade. The report released Thursday by the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime says that in 2022, in the first full growing season since the military wrested control of the country from the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021, Myanmar saw a 33% increase in cultivation area to 99,090 acres.