New video released Friday showed seized heroin, methamphetamine and other illegal narcotics valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars going up in flames in Burma.
Authorities burned more than 50 tons of confiscated drugs — including opium, ketamine, marijuana and crystal meth — with an estimated value of $600 million, as the Southeast Asian nation marked the United Nations’ International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, The Associated Press reported.
The haul destroyed this year carried a street value more than twice as high as last year’s total, according to Police Lt. Col. Aung Myat Soe of Yangon’s Anti-Narcotics Police Force. He said that in Yangon alone, officials incinerated 31 types of drugs worth about $321 million.
Smoke and flames rise from burning illegal narcotics during a destruction ceremony marking the U.N.’s International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, on the outskirts of Yangon, Burma, on Friday, June 26, 2026. (Thein Zaw/AP)
Video from Yangon captured a vast stockpile of drugs consumed by intense flames, sending dense black smoke high above the site.
Burma remains a key source of illicit narcotics moving into East and Southeast Asia, despite ongoing enforcement campaigns, and has for years ranked among the world’s leading producers of heroin and methamphetamine.
More than 50 tons of heroin, opium, ketamine, methamphetamine, marijuana and crystal meth were burned on Friday, June 26, 2026, in Burma, to mark the U.N.’s International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. (AP)
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Experts told the AP that drug production has risen amid the violent turmoil that followed Burma’s 2021 military takeover, which has spiraled into a civil war involving the military government, pro-democracy forces and ethnic armed organizations.
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A police officer stands in front of seized illegal narcotics during a destruction ceremony marking the U.N.’s International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, on the outskirts of Yangon, Burma, on Friday, June 26, 2026. (Thein Zaw/AP)
In January, the military government claimed the country’s largest-ever seizures of illicit drugs and drug-manufacturing equipment, taken from a total of 12 drug production sites during a series of raids in the northern part of Shan state.
The U.N. says its June 26 International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking is “an expression of its determination to strengthen action and cooperation to achieve the goal of an international society free of drug abuse.”
“Supported each year by individuals, communities, and various organizations all over the world, this global observance aims to raise awareness of the major problem that illicit drugs represent to society,” the U.N. added.
Firefighters spray water in front of illegal narcotics being burnt during a destruction ceremony in Burma on Friday, June 26, 2026. (Thein Zaw/AP)
“Global drug use and the number of drugs on the market have been increasing in the past decades. The century-long dominance of heroin in illicit global opioid markets is increasingly being challenged by changes in the illegal supply of opioids,” it added. “Production, seizures and use of cocaine continue to rise, while low costs of manufacture and reduced risks of detection of synthetic drugs are contributing to their increase on illicit drug markets.”
