Asia-Pacific Drug Trade Thriving as Gangs Make Billions in Profits, UN Says

BANGKOK, THAILAND - Asia’s drug lords have established new manufacturing hubs and maritime trafficking routes to ramp up the supply of methamphetamine across the Asia-Pacific, the United Nations crime agency said Thursday. The value of the drug trade in the region is estimated between $30.3 billion and $61.4 billion, the agency said. 

Seizures of both “yaba” meth pills and the crystallized meth version — called “ice” — since the start of the pandemic have surged, despite widespread border closures, restricted air travel and rolling lockdowns inside the drug markets.  Authorities across Asia seized a record of 170 tons of meth last year, up nearly 20% from 2019, putting it on a par with - if not larger than — the North America’s synthetic drug market, according to a report on drug flows by the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime. The seizures “show COVID-19 has had very, very little impact on the organized crime groups and their ability to supply methamphetamine,” said Inshik Sim of the UNODC.