Laos makes big meth bust as UN warns of security breakdown
ABC News
Police in the Southeast Asian nation of Laos have made their second huge seizure in three months of methamphetamine
BANGKOK -- Police in Laos have made their second huge seizure in three months of methamphetamine, a development that a U.N. expert on the illicit drug trade said Saturday reflects a breakdown of security in Southeast Asia.
Jeremy Douglas, the regional representative for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, said the seizure of 36.5 million methamphetamine tablets in the northwestern province of Bokeo was the region’s second largest after 55.6 million meth pills were captured in October in the same province.
He warned that the Mekong River region, where the seizure took place, was experiencing a surge of drug production and trafficking that required strong efforts to get under control.
“Organized crime treat the Mekong region like a playground — it has all the elements they look for,” he said.
