PUBLISHED : 12 Dec 2023 at 11: 45 An opium poppy is lanced to gather its resin. Myanmar produced an approximated 1,080 tonnes of opium — important for producing heroin — this year. (Photo: AFP) Myanmar endedupbeing the world’s mostsignificant manufacturer of opium in 2023, surpassing Afghanistan after the Taliban federalgovernment’s crackdown on the trade, according to a United Nations report launched on Tuesday. Myanmar produced an approximated 1,080 tonnes of opium — necessary for producing heroin — this year, according to the newest report by the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The figures come after opium production in Afghanistan plunged an approximated 95 percent to around 330 tonnes following the Taliban’s restriction on poppy growing in April last year, according to UNODC. The “Golden Triangle” border area inbetween Myanmar, Laos and Thailand has long been a hotbed of prohibited drug production and trafficking, especially of methamphetamine and opium. The overall approximated worth of Myanmar’s “opiate economy” increased to inbetween $1 billion and $2.4 billion — the comparable of 1.7 to 4.1 percent of the nation’s 2022 GDP, UNODC stated. Last year, an approximated 790 tonnes of opium were produced in Myanmar, it stated. Myanmar’s legal eco
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