Topic
Heroin, also known as diamorphine, is an opiate drug that is synthesized from morphine, a naturally occurring substance extracted from the seed pod of the Asian opium poppy plant. It can be injected, snorted/sniffed, or smoked, all of which rapidly deliver the drug to the brain. Once in the brain it is converted to morphine and binds to receptors known as opioid receptors - primarily those involved in the perception of pain and in reward - often resulting in addiction.
- Myanmar’s legal economy has been gutted by conflict and instability since the military seized power in 2021, driving farmers to grow opium poppies
- Opium production in Afghanistan, meanwhile, slumped an estimated 95 per cent this year following the Taliban’s ban on poppy cultivation, the UN says
Senior customs official Mark Woo promises more international cooperation to close net around drug smugglers as figures rise.
A report from the United Nations’ Office on Drugs and Crimes said the country is also a major opium producer and heroin source, even though the Taliban declared a war on narcotics in August 2021.
If carried out, she would be the first woman to be executed in Singapore since 2004.
High volumes of drugs continue to be produced and trafficked in and from the region, largely from where the borders of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand meet.
Customs inspector warns young people against joining drug trade and urges them to ignore promises of easy money.
Economic, security and governance disruptions followed the military takeover in 2021, leaving many farmers in remote border states little option but to return to growing opium, UN says.
The highly-addictive, manufactured opioid is 50 times more potent than heroin, and a tiny amount can be fatal – most of the material is produced in Mexico with chemicals obtained from China, the DEA says.
‘The region is literally swimming in methamphetamine,’ UN agency said; increased production is making drugs cheaper and more accessible, creating greater risk to communities
US authorities arrested a Japanese “yakuza” organised crime leader and three Thai men who trafficked heroin and methamphetamine and tried to acquire surface-to-air missiles for rebel groups in Myanmar and Sri Lanka.
The US spent more than US$8 billion over 15 years on failed efforts to deprive the Taliban of their profits from Afghanistan’s opium and heroin trade.
Customs officials did not say where the drugs originated, but the seizure comes amid concerns that production may surge in neighbouring Myanmar.
Officers discovered the 17.2kg haul in four parcels sent by mail via Shenzhen. Discovery is customs’ largest drug bust at a land border this year
Suspects caught in 2019 found to have swallowed 642 grams of cocaine on average.
Former addict who used ibogaine – the root of a shrub used for initiation ceremonies in West Africa – to get clean calls it ‘a beautiful thing’. Users of the psychedelic say it reduces withdrawal symptoms. Prescribing it is a legal grey area, though.
The largest ever task force assembled to fight organised crime in Asia has identified long-time drug trafficker Tse Chi Lop as the suspected kingpin of a crime syndicate that police say dominates the US$70 billion-a-year Asia-Pacific drug trade.
Violent Kenyan organised crime family sourced ‘precursor chemicals’ for illicit drug production from China, US court documents show.
Once confirmed, the new employees will have to attend offshore training as there are no professional executioners in the country, said an official.
Andres Lopez Elorez used the puppies as drug mules for Colombian traffickers, implanting packages of liquid heroin in them. Three dogs died, but survivors include Heroina, a Rottweiler trained by Colombian police to be a drug detection dog
Trump administration has focused on Chinese production of the synthetic opioid, but users in Philadelphia’s Kensington neighbourhood say the real fight is demand, not supply.
Myanmar has extended by five years its deadline to eliminate drug production within its borders, a senior official said yesterday, as the nation struggles to stem a growing narcotics crisis.
Australian police said on Friday they had smashed a crime syndicate operating across Asia, leading to 27 arrests and the seizure of drugs and assets worth millions of dollars. Authorities said the organised gang – operating in China, including in Hong Kong and Macau, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and Myanmar – allegedly targeted Australia for its heroin and methamphetamine trade.
