The State Administration Council (SAC) Member Union Minister for Home Affairs Lt-Gen Yar Pyae, who is in the capacity of the Chairman of the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control, sent a message to the 37th celebration in commemoration of the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking (World Drug Day) which falls on 26 June 2024. The full-text messages are as follows:
- To address the issues of opium poppy cultivation, synthetic drug production and drug abuse, Myanmar had systematically established the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control and took its role as a national duty.
- We have purchased and installed advanced modern detection equipment and are taking action to identify drug trafficking activities effectively. The Drug Enforcement Division under the Myanmar Police Force has 11 sub-divisions and 71 task forces, and they are being deployed all over the country to carry out effective drug control measures.
- Even though some Ethnic Armed Organizations in Myanmar have denied their involvement in drug activities, in reality, they illegally import chemicals across the border into the areas they control by working together with foreign chemists to produce drugs.
- While the State Administration Council is accelerating its fight against drugs activities, it has been found that the terrorist insurgents are taking advantage of the current political instability to burn down towns and villages, expanding their force, destabilizing the areas where their ethnic groups live by carrying out destructive activities to cause economic decline. People are being denied access to education in cities and villages.
- As every seized drug and its related substances are burned during the commemoration of the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on 26 June each year, over K936 billion worth of narcotic drugs and its related substances were burned in various places of Yangon, Mandalay and Taunggyi on 26 June 2023.
- To provide treatment for individuals addicted to drugs and reduce subsequent risks, Myanmar has established 29 major clinics, 56 minor medical clinics and 90 methadone clinics across the country. They have given treatment to 26,595 drug addiction patients, and 23,875 individuals were given methadone treatment in 2023. In order for the drug addicts to reintegrate back into the community, the 14 rehabilitation centres had been established.
Myanmar has been actively engaged in fighting against drug activities in collaboration with neighbouring countries, including the United Nations, ASEAN member states, Mekong regional countries, BIMSTEC member countries and international drug control agencies. The country has close ties with UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) based in Yangon, AFP (Australian Federal Police), DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration), NNCC (National Narcotics Control Commission) and ONCB (Office of Narcotics Control Board) by enhancing its existing cooperation mechanism.
Source: The GNLM (26-6-2024)
- We have purchased and installed advanced modern detection equipment and are taking action to identify drug trafficking activities effectively. The Drug Enforcement Division under the Myanmar Police Force has 11 sub-divisions and 71 task forces, and they are being deployed all over the country to carry out effective drug control measures.
- Even though some Ethnic Armed Organizations in Myanmar have denied their involvement in drug activities, in reality, they illegally import chemicals across the border into the areas they control by working together with foreign chemists to produce drugs.
- As every seized drug and its related substances are burned during the commemoration of the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on 26 June each year, over K936 billion worth of narcotic drugs and its related substances were burned in various places of Yangon, Mandalay and Taunggyi on 26 June 2023.
- Drug control activities is conducting in collaboration with neighbouring countries, including the United Nations, ASEAN member states, Mekong regional countries, BIMSTEC member countries and international drug control agencies. The country has close ties with UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) based in Yangon, AFP (Australian Federal Police), DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration), NNCC (National Narcotics Control Commission) and ONCB (Office of Narcotics Control Board) by enhancing its existing cooperation mechanism.