Asia's meth trade is worth an estimated $61B as region becomes 'playground' for drug gangs

S.J.B.

S.J.B.

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Asia's meth trade is worth an estimated $61B as region becomes 'playground' for drug gangs
Joshua Berlinger
CNN
July 18th, 2019
Deep in the jungle in Thailand's northern Chiang Mai province, a unit of armed border officers were on duty late last month when they stumbled on a cave stuffed with drugs.

The stash was huge. Inside were more than 5 million methamphetamine pills -- known locally as yaba or "madness drug" -- and 145 kilograms (about 320 pounds) of crystal methamphetamine wrapped in large plastic bags.

Even by conservative estimates, the haul was worth tens of millions of dollars, according to the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC). It was the biggest stash Police Lt. Col. Dilok Arinpeng, who commands the unit, said he had ever seen -- and, incredibly, he found it unguarded.

But these types of record-breaking busts have become the new normal in Southeast Asia, which is facing one of the world's most intense drug crises.

A UNODC report published Thursday found the methamphetamine trade is now worth between $30 billion and $61 billion per year in East and Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand and Bangladesh.
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Read the UNODC report here.

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Many of these countries have among the harshest punishments in the world for drug trafficking. It doesn't seem to have done much for them...

Of course, the UNODC just calls for more of the same, as it always has.

"Seizures of both [crystalline and tablet methamphetamine] are being made in quantities unimaginable a decade ago, with at least 120 tons seized in the region in 2018." I can't even imagine that much meth.
 
I remain hopeful that, sooner or later, someone influential will realize that the status quo is doing fuck all, and go from there, but, homo sapiens can be awfully stubborn, among other things.
 
Seriously the whole of Asia is on the take. except for Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and Singapore. Those five countries are the only in Asia to be wealthy enough to pay their cops a wage high enough to not have rampant courrption.

In every Asian country that has the death sentence for drug trafficking courrption is rife excluding Singapore.

If the Asian meth trade is worth $61 billion i can't see how law enforcement in a poor region like Asia can compete with organised crime to get the upper hand and stamp out production of meth in Asia.

Think about how many cops and judges get paid off with bribes and kick backs to turn a blind eye to the major players. I reckon the only reason westerners get sentenced to death in countries like China is because the Chinese have long memories about the devastation caused by white European merchant traders swapping opium for tea hundreds of years ago.

Well that and also the economics of the illegal drug trade verses the poverty in Asia in that meth is highly profitable so the attitude of poorly paid cops and judges greedy enough to risk taking a bribe is anyone involved with illegal drugs should be prepared to pay or risk death. That's how the game goes in Asia.

imagine how tempting it is for a Chinese or Thai cop earning $3000 USD a year to accept a $1000 USD bribe from a rich kid drug user caught with meth in their possession.
 
Boku_ said:
Seriously the whole of Asia is on the take. except for Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and Singapore. Those five countries are the only in Asia to be wealthy enough to pay their cops a wage high enough to not have rampant courrption.

In every Asian country that has the death sentence for drug trafficking courrption is rife excluding Singapore.

If the Asian meth trade is worth $61 billion i can't see how law enforcement in a poor region like Asia can compete with organised crime to get the upper hand and stamp out production of meth in Asia.

Think about how many cops and judges get paid off with bribes and kick backs to turn a blind eye to the major players. I reckon the only reason westerners get sentenced to death in countries like China is because the Chinese have long memories about the devastation caused by white European merchant traders swapping opium for tea hundreds of years ago.

Well that and also the economics of the illegal drug trade verses the poverty in Asia in that meth is highly profitable so the attitude of poorly paid cops and judges greedy enough to risk taking a bribe is anyone involved with illegal drugs should be prepared to pay or risk death. That's how the game goes in Asia.

imagine how tempting it is for a Chinese or Thai cop earning $3000 USD a year to accept a $1000 USD bribe from a rich kid drug user caught with meth in their possession.
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Your exactly right Boku. A little bird once landed on my shoulder and told me in many of those countries the it isnt just the Police earning a cut, the government itself does from two ways:
1. Pay offs from triads and other major manufactures.

2. And more interestingly because of international political pressure, every so often Chinese or Malaysian ect Authorities have to show the world they are hard at fighting it so will approach the major manufactures and demand a huge bulk payment from them all and the Syndicate who pays the least in government extortion payment gets hit with a "Huge successfull bust by a hard working intelligence and Police operation" thats paraded too western media.
 
So the black market of meth sales are over into a 100 billion dollars annually, but the production of it is so fucking easy that a half whit middle school drop out can shake and bake an adulterated form of it with ease. The "fucking drug war" is one of the biggest scams of all time.. right up there with religions. How much would this chemical be worth in a free market system.
 
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That's are good question. Perhaps if meth was legal in the free market system it could still be expensive

why? Because western governments are notorious for adding extremely high excise taxes to other drugs like alcohol and tobacco so why would recreational drugs be any different
 
This may be a stupid question, but erm, could all this meth consumption cause an epidemic of Parkinsonian-like individuals? Or does that require a ton of meth usage? Sorry, I don't know. And Google scares me (I think it wants my firearms).
 
I'm not sure ro4eva. They're def is long term mental health consequences from using stim's. But it is the luck of the draw in-regards to whether a person who messes around with stim's when young ends up being a nut case on welfare later on in life or they get through it unscathed

A common complaint of long term users of speed or ice is a lack of motivation and poor concentration while straight and unless high on stim's they find life tedious and every moment in the day that is drug free to be painfully arduous.

I know myself using meth can affect your performance in the workplace and a tell-tail sign of abusing meth is when a person experiences a gradual reduction in their natural ability to concentrate on everyday activies like not being able to focus on tasks properly at school/university/work.

I reckon if you go hard enough on meth chances are you will start developing a demotivate personality of melancholy and indifference that is typified by being disinterested on day to day tasks unless high on meth. Lot's of meth users go crazy and experience a temporary psychosis that requires hospitalisation not to mention suffer from insomnia as well as depression and end up on prescription medications like anti-psychotics and/or anti-depressants

I've met many former users and old school ex-tweakers in the Melbourne mental health system that were aged over 50 and tell me they went hard on amphetamines and/or methamphetamines in the 1970's and 1980's and a common trend among these individuals is to have had a sleep pattern when they were young and just starting out using stim's where they are awake all night and because they can't sleep at night they sleep during the day drifting off asleep in the early morning from when the sun comes up sleeping all day until the sun sets only getting out of bed when it is dark. But these former users and old school ex-tweakers in the Melbourne mental health system tell me once they turned 40 they develop a new dysfunctional sleep pattern where you wake up at 4:00AM everyday and want to go to bed at 5:00PM in the evening.

They're are 10 personality disorders a person can be predispose to and abusing meth will fast track you to the psychiatrist's chair as quick as any substance.

Google these

  • Paranoid personality disorder. ...
  • Schizoid personality disorder. ...
  • Schizotypal disorder. ...
  • Antisocial personality disorder. ...
  • Borderline personality disorder. ...
  • Histrionic personality disorder. ...
  • Narcissistic personality disorder. ...
  • Avoidant personality disorder.

One last thing i will say as someone who has been diagnosed with a Dissociative disorder and PTSD using meth can help unlock repressed memories so meth does have some therapeutic value,
 
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