The regime Ministry of Home Affairs held ceremonies nationwide to destroy nearly 1,072 billion MMK ($300 million USD) worth of illegal narcotic drugs to mark the annual International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on Thursday.
“Drugs, including over 1,334 kilograms of opium, 1744 kilograms of heroin, 281 million yaba [methamphetamine] tablets, over 597 kilograms of marijuana, over 8,573 kilograms of ketamine, and other substances that were seized over the last year were burned,” the Ministry of Information announced on June 27.
The regime claimed that more than 972 billion MMK ($218 million USD) worth of drugs and chemical substances were confiscated over the last 12 months from June 1, 2024 to May 31, 2025 across the country.
In Taunggyi, the Shan State capital, over 353 billion MMK ($98 million USD) worth of heroin, opium, ketamine, marijuana, methamphetamine, and amphetamine – confiscated from both Shan and Karen states – were destroyed on June 26.
In Yangon, a total of 424 billion MMK ($118 million USD) worth of 25 drugs and 11 chemical substances – seized from Yangon, Ayeyarwady, Bago, and Tanintharyi regions, as well as Mon, Karen and Arakan states – were also destroyed.
In Mandalay, over 295 billion MMK ($87 million USD) worth of 26 narcotic drugs and 17 chemical substances – seized from upper and central Myanmar – were destroyed as well.
Regime officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC), ministers, military officials, as well as representatives from Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) Thailand, attended the drug burning ceremonies.
The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) stated that Myanmar remains the world’s leading source of opium and heroin, with drug production escalating rapidly since the 2021 military coup.
“The amount of opium produced in Myanmar remains close to the highest levels we have seen since we first measured it more than 20 years ago,” Masood Karimipour, the regional representative for UNODC, stated in a press release in December.
“As conflict dynamics in the country remain intense and the global supply chains adjust the ban in Afghanistan, we see significant risk of a further expansion [in Myanmar] over the coming years,” he added.
