‘We do this to survive’: Harvesting opium poppies in Myanmar’s Shan State

Southern Shan State, Myanmar – Tian Win Nang squats connected the hard-packed earth, balancing a kilogramme (2.2 pounds) of chocolate-coloured earthy opium successful each manus similar a quality weighing scales.

“Each kilogramme is worthy astir $250,” said Tian Win Nang, wearing worn achromatic flip-flops and a achromatic T-shirt.

The lad of poppy farmers, Tian Win Nang appears to beryllium hardly retired of his teens.

“Chinese traders wage america successful beforehand for the harvest,” helium said, showing Al Jazeera 3 dinner-plate-sized mounds of opium.

“We don’t cognize what happens after,” helium says of the travel that volition spot the opium spell “north to the labs” wherever it volition beryllium processed into morphine and yet refined into heroin.

“We bash this to survive,” helium adds.

Close-up of earthy opium resin collected successful a azygous time successful confederate Shan State [Fabio Polese/Al Jazeera]

The prima is precocious and the aerial is inactive successful the poppy fields blanketing the hills successful this portion of confederate Shan State successful eastbound Myanmar.

Men and women, young and old, their faces shielded with scarves and straw hats, determination with quick, practised motions arsenic hands usage crisp tools to people greenish poppy pods earlier silently progressing connected to different plant.

A milky fluid dilatory oozes from the coiled inflicted connected the pod. When it has dried to the consistency of gum, the aforesaid hands volition scrape disconnected the sticky substance, stitchery it unneurotic and permission it to adust successful the prima until it reaches the toffee-like consistency of earthy opium.

This is simply a regular ritual for galore farmers successful this portion of Shan State adjacent wherever cause shipments person flowed on these upland roads adjacent the municipality of Pekon for decades. The routes upwind towards the borders with neighbouring Thailand, Laos and China.

Armed struggle betwixt Myanmar’s subject and taste equipped organisations successful these regions has fuelled opium farming and cause accumulation for generations, but the commercialized has surged successful measurement with the country’s intensifying civilian war.

A poppy tract stretches crossed the hills of Pekon territory successful confederate Shan State, Myanmar [Fabio Polese/Al Jazeera]

Alliances person agelong existed, experts say, betwixt high-ranking Myanmar subject officers, taste equipped groups, section transgression networks and transnational syndicates that grip the cause trade’s logistics, refining and distribution.

“Drug trafficking successful Myanmar has been facilitated by the subject since the 1990s,” said Mark Farmaner, manager of the London-based Advance Myanmar foundation and an adept connected Southeast Asia. “Many officers nett personally, and the instauration arsenic a full reaps governmental advantages,” helium said.

One of the astir almighty determination syndicates is Sam Gor, a sprawling web made up of an confederation of rival Chinese triad gangs that operates crossed China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and beyond.

Despite the 2021 apprehension and extradition to Australia of Tse Chi Lop – a Canadian nationalist of Chinese root wide believed to beryllium the person of Sam Gor – the web remains mostly intact.

The United Nations Office connected Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimates that the Sam Gor syndicate generated astatine slightest $8bn – and perchance arsenic overmuch arsenic $17.7bn – successful 2018 from controlling betwixt 40 and 70 percent of the wholesale methamphetamine marketplace successful the Asia Pacific region.

Local women harvest poppies nether the midday prima successful confederate Shan State, 1 of Myanmar’s main opium-producing regions [Fabio Polese/Al Jazeera]

Despite the high-profile apprehension of Tse Chi Lop, the determination cause commercialized is flourishing with much than 1.1 cardinal methamphetamine pills seized crossed Southeast Asia successful 2023 – a historical record, according to UNODC.

‘We reason the production, trafficking and usage of narcotics’

Most of the methamphetamine originates from laboratories hidden successful the mountains of bluish Shan State and different areas connected Myanmar’s eastbound borders, which person go the region’s epicentre of synthetic cause accumulation and are portion of the “Golden Triangle” – the lawless territory encompassing the shared borders of Myanmar, Thailand and Laos.

But earlier the detonation successful methamphetamine production, the Golden Triangle was infamous for its opium crops and the heroin it produced portion nether the regularisation of the self-styled cause lord Khun Sa – the undisputed cause kingpin of the 1980s and 1990s determination cause trade.

Khun Sa is believed to person commanded a idiosyncratic service of immoderate 15,000 men and nether his absorption overmuch of Shan State became the planetary centre of heroin production. He surrendered to the subject authorities successful Myanmar successful 1996 and died successful Yangon successful 2007, nether the extortion of the aforesaid generals who had shielded him for years.

A husbandman scores a poppy pod to cod its sap [Fabio Polese/Al Jazeera]

“In the aboriginal 1980s, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration estimated that 70 percent of the heroin consumed successful the US came from his enactment ,” Kelvin Rowley, a lecturer astatine Swinburne University of Technology successful Australia, wrote aft Khun Sa’s death.

“The US authorities placed a $2 cardinal bounty connected [Khun Sa’s] caput – an magnitude reportedly little than what helium earned successful a azygous month,” Rowley said.

Opium has present made a comeback successful the Golden Triangle.

After the Taliban banned poppy cultivation successful Afghanistan successful 2022, Myanmar returned to being the world’s apical shaper of opium.

In 2023, according to UNODC estimates, Myanmar’s poppy fields stretched implicit much than 47,000 hectares (more than 116,000 acres), and by 2024, immoderate 995 tonnes of earthy opium was produced – an summation of 135 percent since the subject takeover successful 2021. The gross worth of the opium and heroin commercialized successful Myanmar past twelvemonth was estimated to beryllium betwixt $589m and $1.57bn, according to UNODC.

The standard of cause production, the UN reports, is besides tied to the civilian warfare successful Myanmar, which is present successful its 4th year.

Myanmar’s system has collapsed since the subject coup successful 2021, and with options narrowing, radical person traditionally turned to poppy cultivation arsenic a means to survive.

The UN notes that opium poppy cultivation successful Southeast Asia has agelong been linked to poverty, deficiency of authorities services, economical challenges and insecurity.

“Households and villages successful Myanmar that prosecute successful poppy cultivation and the broader opium system bash truthful to supplement income oregon due to the fact that they deficiency different morganatic opportunities,” the UN said.</p >< p>

But present parts of Pekon, agelong a subject stronghold and a cardinal cause trafficking corridor, are nether the power of the Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF) and different Karenni equipped groups warring the ruling military.

They accidental they privation to alteration things.

“We reason the production, trafficking, and usage of narcotics,” said Maui, a lawman commandant of the KNDF.

“When we seizure Burmese soldiers, they’re afloat of meth,” Maui said.

“We inquire wherever it comes from and they archer us, without hesitation, it’s distributed by their superiors to propulsion them to the beforehand lines,” helium said.

“Once the warfare is over, we’ll spell aft the opium too. We privation it to beryllium utilized lone for aesculapian purposes,” helium added.

Karenni constabulary officers hunt a motorbike astatine a checkpoint successful Pekon district, confederate Shan State [Fabio Polese/Al Jazeera]

As portion of those antidrug efforts, Karenni constabulary forces halt and hunt motorcycles and vehicles connected roads successful the areas of Shan State they present control.

“We are stopping cars and motorbikes we don’t recognise to hunt for drugs,” said Karenni constabulary commandant Win Ning Thun, lasting astatine a checkpoint conscionable extracurricular a colony successful Pekon district.

“We’re looking for yaba pills,” said Win Ning Thun, utilizing the section sanction for methamphetamine pills.

“Until recently, this country was nether subject and pro-junta militia control,” Win Ning Thun said.

“Meth was moving freely nether their supervision. They took a percent of the profits from each shipment passing through,” helium said.

‘I was expected to marque a batch of money’

Deep successful the forests surrounding Pekon, a tiny situation holds rows of detainees arrested by Karenni police.

“Everyone present has been arrested for cause trafficking. Some were carrying yaba pills to the Thai border. Others were interior couriers,” a Karenni constabulary authoritative told Al Jazeera.

“These are the pills we confiscated conscionable this past month,” helium said, holding up a integrative container stuffed with tiny reddish yaba pills that are casual to conceal, sold cheaply, but correspond a commercialized that is worthy millions of dollars.

Among the detainees successful the situation was Anton Lee, who wore glasses and a calm, unassuming look.

“They stopped maine astatine a checkpoint with 10,000 pills,” Lee said.

Young Karenni constabulary officers airs successful beforehand of a array showing the drugs seized successful their checkpoint operations [Fabio Polese/Al Jazeera]

“I was taking them to the Thai border. I was expected to marque a batch of money,” helium said, offering nary further details, lone to accidental that the nett helium hoped to gain would person fed his household for a year.

Now, helium faces a agelong clip successful prison.

Not excessively acold from the prison, the civilian warfare grinds connected successful Myanmar arsenic the subject authorities buys much precocious weaponry, and the rebel forces effort to clasp retired and widen their advances.

The military’s aerial raids, drone strikes and artillery occurrence hammer schools, hospitals, homes and spiritual sites, turning full villages into targets.

Yet, adjacent nether fire, present successful confederate Shan State, immoderate look to beryllium trying to staunch the travel of drugs.

With constricted resources, they archer of doing what they tin successful different conflict wrong a overmuch larger war.