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SPECIAL REPORT
Fighting drug trafficking in the Golden Triangle
Drug trafficking has long been a problem in the Golden Triangle, the region where Thailand’s Chiang Rai province meets Myanmar and Laos. In this blog, Gita Sabharwal, UN Resident Coordinator in Thailand, and Jeremy Douglas, who represents the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, explain how the United Nations and the Thai government are working together to tackle the issue.
“Thailand has made considerable progress in combating the opium trade over recent decades and represents global good practices. UNODC has a longterm partnership with the Thai government and other stakeholders to combat drug trafficking in the Golden Triangle and, from the military base at Doi Chang Mub overlooking Myanmar, joint patrols
Border Security Report | September/October 2020
are conducted on a regular basis to counter trafficking. However, as the opium trade has declined, the cross-border movement of synthetic drugs, and particularly methamphetamine, has grown substantially. Link between development and fighting the drugs trade