The Notoriety of the Golden Triangle

The proximity of the North Eastern States of India-Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh to the “Golden Triangle” region of SouthEast Asia  has thrown up not only serious security challenges but also afar reaching social issue in the form of widespread drug abuse/addiction in these states. One major challenge for the national and regional governments is the widespread illegal drug trafficking via these states. Also the drug hazards that these states have faced which is evident in the widespread addiction/abuse of drugs amongst the youth of these states have their roots from the so-called region called the “Golden Triangle ”. While the intensity and the spread of this epidemic may vary from state to state of the above mentioned states, there is no doubt about the gravity of this influence from across the border from this region. The Golden Triangle has been one of the largest opium producing areas of the world since the 1950s. The cocaine trade is dominated by the Latin American states including Colombia and the opium trade has a long tradition in East Asia, having been first introduced into the Golden Triangle region of Myanmar (then Burma) Thailand and Laos by the Arab traders in the eighth century. However, the opium poppy was originally grown in the Chinese provinces of Sichuan,Yunnan and Guanxi and was later carried into Northern Thailand, Laos and Burma. The narcotic derivative of the opium poppy was used commonly as a therapeutic drug and for the treatment of a wide range of ailments. There was no evidence of widespread abuse/addiction related to the use of the drug. A major change came about as a result of the Opium wars of 1839 and 1856 which led to China signing a trade agreement with the British. This legalised the cultivation and importance of opium. Opium became the world’s largest cash crop a quarter of a century later. In 1898, the German pharmaceutical company, Bayer introduced a new analgesic derivative from the opium poppy which was ten times more effective than morphine. It was called ‘heroin’ which became the most commonly trafficked drug across countries of the world. The Golden Triangle can also be understood as a large mountainous region covering the areas in north eastern Myanmar, north western Thailand and northern Laos. The name was coined by Marshall Green, an American diplomat whose career focused on East Asia. 

The Golden Triangle also geographically refers to the delta between the Mekong river and the Mae Sai river, the area possessing the best climate for opium poppy cultivation. This area has been notorious for drug trafficking since the 1880s when the British colonisers introduced opium cultivation and production technology there. By the time of Myanmar’s independence in 1948, opium growing had become popular in the Shan and the other border states in Myanmar. When the Chinese Nationalists (the Kuomintang, KMT) lost its civil war to the Chinese Communists in 1949, large KMT troop units crossed the borders and settled in Northern Myanmar. To survive, they lived on drug trafficking which expanded greatly during the period of the 1950s till the 1970s. Before the late 1980s, the Golden Triangle also included the area of the Lashio State in Myanmar . Since the 1990s, the Golden Triangle drug trade has expanded into the Shan state and the Kachin state of Myanmar making Shan state the centre and the main drug production base of the transfer. The Shan state focuses on poppy growing and heroin production, the Thai part of the triangle is dedicated to marijuana and amphetamines and has become an important distribution centre for heroin and opium. The Lao part of the triangle largely focused on heroin production. Since the Second World War, Myanmar has been a significant cog in the transnational drug trade. Opium and heroin base produced in north eastern Myanmar are transported to refineries along the Thailand-Myanmar border for conversion to heroin and heroin base, the final products of which are shipped into various towns in North Thailand  and down to Bangkok for further distribution to the international markets. There is also clear evidence of the involvement of the Military Junta of Myanmar sponsoring the drug trade to earn revenue.  It is to be noted that most of the people growing the opium poppy in Myanmar and in the Thai highlands are living below the poverty line

Manipur, one of the border states of India with Myanmar, has become an alternative route for drug traffickers in the late 1970s and the early 1980s due to its proximity to the region. The state became a user state of heroin by the late 1980s. There was hardly any opium production till that time. Subir Bhaumik points out the few main threats posed by the increased drug trafficking to India and particularly to the North East Region of the country. They are the factors of increased local consumption of the drugs mainly heroin and others as well. The other factor is the involvement of military personnel, politicians, bureaucrats and security personnel in the trafficking of heroin and other drugs and the third factor is the use of drug money by the local ethnic separatists to fund their activities. Again I would like to reiterate that these factors have serious security, social implications for the border states of the North Eastern Region of the country. As states of Manipur, Mizoram and Myanmar have grappled with their respective political assertions since India’s independence, excluding Mizoram now, there are allegations of various insurgent groups involved in the drug business. So, this proximity has a serious implication for the security situation of these states. Consequently, the impact of the illicit drug business is majorly felt in these north eastern states bordering Myanmar.

The security implications of narcotics trafficking in East Asia and across the border states of India cannot be overlooked. The conclusion is that the illicit drug trade is emerging as a significant long term security issue for the region. Drug trafficking has grown enormously in sophistication and volume in conjunction with the spread of organised crime since the end of the cold war and it will continue to do so in the absence of effective national and regional counter measures. There is, no doubt, that the drug money is distorting regional economies and exacerbating corruption and political instability. Factually, the Golden Triangle region of Myanmar, Thailand and Laos accounts for 65 p.c of all opium produced illicitly and sustains a heroin industry. The narcotics trade is unusually profitable because the average markup for illicit drugs from source to market is extremely high in absolute terms and relative to most other commodities. Profits can be even higher still depending on the demand, availability, purity and exchange rate fluctuations. It has been confirmed from the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) that though the opium poppy farming has decreased since 2014, the region  has now become one of the world’s leading areas for the production of synthetic drugs and particularly methamphetamines including the popular YABA tablets, a combination of methamphetamine and caffeine, highly addictive pills, which are the latest craze especially amongst the youth.

Degree of Thought is a weekly community column initiated by Tetso College in partnership with The Morung Express. Degree of Thought will delve into the social, cultural, political and educational issues around us. The views expressed here do not reflect the opinion of the institution. Tetso College is a NAAC Accredited UGC recognised Commerce and Arts College. The editorial team includes Chubamenla, Asst. Professor, Dept. of English and Rinsit Sareo, Asst. Manager, IT, Media & Communications.

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