Video footage captured on Friday shows hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of heroin, methamphetamine, and other confiscated drugs being set ablaze in Burma.
Officials estimate that more than 50 tons of heroin, meth, opium, ketamine, marijuana, and crystal meth were burned, with a combined street value of roughly $600 million.
Police reports indicate that the value of the drugs destroyed this year more than doubled the total seized in the previous year. In Yangon alone, some $321 million worth of 31 drug varieties were incinerated.
The footage from Yangon displays a vast array of substances engulfed in a raging inferno, with thick black smoke billowing into the sky.
Burma has long been a major source of illegal narcotics destined for East and Southeast Asia, and remains one of the world’s largest producers of heroin and methamphetamine.
Ongoing political unrest following the 2021 military takeover has fueled a rise in drug production, according to experts familiar with the situation.
Earlier this year, authorities claimed the largest-ever seizures of illicit drugs and manufacturing equipment, seized from 12 production sites in northern Shan state during a series of raids.
The day of the incident coincides with a global observance aimed at raising awareness of the widespread problem posed by illicit drugs.
Recent years have seen an increase in the availability of cocaine and synthetic opioids, driven by low production costs and reduced detection risks.
