Pubdate: Thu, 01 Mar 2007 Source: International Herald-Tribune (International) Copyright: International Herald Tribune 2007 Contact: http://www.iht.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/212 Author: The Associated Press Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) MYANMAR A CONTINUING TROUBLE SPOT IN DRUG WAR, STATE DEPARTMENT SAYS WASHINGTON: The State Department's annual drug report said Thursday that Myanmar remained the world's second-largest opium poppy grower, after Afghanistan, although opium production continued to fall. Myanmar, also known as Burma, remains vulnerable to periodic spikes in opium production, the department's global survey of the drug war said. Opium is heroin's main ingredient. Burmese rebel groups, meanwhile, were said to be a continuing major source of methamphetimine. The country's reduction in opium cultivation has been accompanied by spikes in the production and trafficking of synthetic drugs, the report said. The report praised China and Thailand, both of which border Myanmar and have been major conduits for illegal drugs produced there, for their efforts to stem the trade. Still, China was said to be a major part of the region's drug market as a transit country and an important producer and exporter of amphetamines. The report noted that authorities in China see drug trafficking and drug abuse as a threat to national and economic security. Corruption was said to limit what Chinese officials could accomplish. Little data exists for North Korea, but the report said the State Department believes the country is involved in numerous criminal enterprises, including the narcotics trade. In Cambodia, the report said, drug investigations, arrests and seizures increased in 2006 because of a spike in drug activity and perhaps because of some increase in law enforcement efforts. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman