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Illegal drug trade[edit]

Further information: Opium production in Burma

A world map of the world's primary opium or heroin producers. The Golden Triangle region, which Burma is part of, is pinpointed in this map.

Burma (Myanmar) is the largest producer of methamphetamines in the world, with the majority of ya ba found in Thailand produced in Burma, particularly in the Golden Triangle and Northeastern Shan State, which borders Thailand, Laos and China.^[43] Burmese-produced Ya ba is typically trafficked to Thailand via Laos, before being transported through the northeastern Thai region of Isan.^[44]

In 2010, Burma trafficked 1 billion tablets to neighboring Thailand.^[43] In 2009, Chinese authorities seized over 40 million tablets that had been illegally trafficked from Burma.^[45] Ethnic militias and rebel groups (in particular the United Wa State Army) are responsible for much of this production; however, the Burmese military units are believed to be heavily involved in the trafficking of the drugs.^[43]

Burma is also the 2nd largest supplier of opium (following Afghanistan) in the world, with 95% of opium grown in Shan State.^[46][47] Illegal narcotics have generated $1 to $2 billion USD in exports annually, with estimates of 40% of the country's foreign exchange coming from drugs.^[43][48] Efforts to eradicate opium cultivation have pushed many ethnic rebel groups, including the United Wa State Army and the Kokang to diversify into methamphetamine production.

Prior to the 1980s, heroin was typically transported from Burma to Thailand, before being trafficked by sea to Hong Kong, which was and still remains the major transit point at which heroin enters the international market. Now, drug trafficking has circumvented to southern China (from Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, Guangdong) because of a growing market for drugs in China, before reaching Hong Kong.^[49]

The prominence of major drug traffickers have allowed them to penetrate other sectors of the Burmese economy, including the banking, airline, hotel and infrastructure industries.^[50] Their investment in infrastructure have allowed them to make more profits, facilitate drug trafficking and money laundering.^[51]