Methamphetamine seizures across East Asia surged to 236 tons last year, a 24% jump from 2023, with the bulk of the interceptions occurring in Southeast Asia, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
Thailand alone seized about 130 tons in 2024, becoming the first country in the region to confiscate over 100 tons of methamphetamine within a single year.
Most of the meth originated in the “Golden Triangle,” a remote region straddling the jungle borders of Myanmar, Thailand, and Laos.
“The 236 tons represent only the amount seized; much more methamphetamine is actually reaching the market,” said Benedikt Hofmann, UNODC’s acting regional representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
“While these seizures reflect, in part, successful law enforcement efforts, we are clearly seeing unprecedented levels of methamphetamine production and trafficking from the Golden Triangle, in particular Shan State,” he added.
On June 17, Indonesia’s National Drug Agency announced its largest-ever seizure: two tons of methamphetamine intercepted after a five-month operation tracking shipments from the Golden Triangle.
Joshua Kurlantzick, senior fellow for Southeast Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations, told DW there have been major crackdowns across the region―with the exception of Myanmar, where civil war has persisted since 2021.
Although Myanmar has long been a hub for the region’s narcotics trade, the military junta and its proxies, who seized power in 2021 after toppling the country’s elected government, have been accused of moving into the drug business to finance their military campaigns.
Zachary Abuza, a professor at the National War College in Washington, noted that while seizures rose nearly 25 percent, street prices in many countries have remained stable or even declined—signaling a dramatic rise in supply.
Much of the meth continues to come from Shan State, a historic center of drug production. Abuza added that ketamine production, another growing concern, is now largely concentrated in Cambodia.
Moreover, as China faces “increasing pressure from the Trump administration to curb the production and export of fentanyl, you are starting to see more production move to Myanmar,” Abuza told DW.
The record haul is estimated to have a street value of between $200 million and $400 million. The Golden Triangle has been a global narcotics hotspot for decades.
