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Export manufacturing and other mainstream business activities in Myanmar have suffered since the military takeover, wiping out jobs that millions relied on to get by. The economy is forecast to grow at a meager 1% pace this year and about half the population is estimated to be living in poverty. Fighting with pro-democracy guerrillas and ethnic minority armed groups has escalated in recent months, raising pressure on the military, which has suffered some key defeats. However, United Nations officials estimate that nearly 18 million of the country's nearly 57 million people are in need of humanitarian aid. The Myanmar military administration reported $602 million in foreign direct investment last year, mostly in the energy sector, with only $112 million invested in manufacturing.

Persons: Aung, kyat, ” Miemie Winn Byrd, Daniel K, Inouye, “, ” Jeremy Douglas, ” Organizations: —, vise, Export, United Nations, U.S ., Pacific Center for Security Studies, U.S . Trade, Drugs, Southeast Locations: BANGKOK, Thailand, — Myanmar, Southeast Asia, Myanmar, Yangon, Myanmar's, North Korea, Inouye Asia, Bangkok, “

☆ North Korean Hackers, Criminals Share Money Laundering Networks in Southeast Asia - UN
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-15 | by ( Jan. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

By Tom WilsonLONDON (Reuters) - North Korean hackers are sharing money-laundering and underground banking networks with fraudsters and drug traffickers in Southeast Asia, according to a United Nations report published on Monday, with casinos and crypto exchanges emerging as key venues for organised crime. Funds stolen by North Korean hackers are a key source of funding for Pyongyang and its weapons programmes. The junket sector has been infiltrated by organised crime for "industrial-scale money laundering and underground banking operations," with links to drug trafficking and cyberfraud, the report said. The proliferation of casinos and crypto have "supercharged" organised crime groups in Southeast Asia, UNODC Regional Representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific Jeremy Douglas told Reuters. "It's no surprise sophisticated threat actors would look to leverage the same underground banking systems and service providers," he said.

Persons: Tom Wilson LONDON, Lazarus, Pacific Jeremy Douglas, Tom Wilson, Tommy Reggiori Wilkes, Angus MacSwan Organizations: United, United Nations Office, Drugs, Korea's, United Nations, North, Casinos, Bangladesh's Central Bank, Lazarus, UNODC Regional Representative, Southeast, Pacific, Reuters Locations: Southeast Asia, United Nations, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, North, Geneva, United States, Pyongyang, Philippines

☆ Crypto scam: Inside the billion-dollar ‘pig-butchering’ industry
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-23 | by ( Reuters Graphic | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +11 min

Of that, at least $9.1 million came from a crypto wallet that U.S. blockchain analysis firm TRM Labs said was linked to pig-butchering scams. Neither did the Thai government, the Thai police or the Bangkok-based trade group Wang represented, the Thai-Asia Economic Exchange Trade Association. The crypto account registered to Wang was held at Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, according to three blockchain analysis firms. In April, the U.S. Department of Justice said it seized about $112 million worth of crypto linked to pig-butchering scams, without identifying suspects. The crypto account in Wang’s name was registered in November 2020, according to the financial records Reuters reviewed.

Persons: Wang Yicheng, Wang, Emma, Lisa Wolk, Erin West, Jessica Jung, West, “ I’ve, Jeremy Douglas, Binance, Bitmain, ” Organizations: Thai, Reuters, TRM Labs, Asia Economic Exchange Trade Association, U.S . Federal Bureau of Investigation, Secret Service, FBI, Secret, Global, U.S . Department of Justice, U.S . Treasury, United Nations Office, Drugs, Workers, KK Park, Commerce Company, Cultural Exchange Center, Overseas, United, Washington, Cultural Exchange Locations: California, Bangkok, Thai, Asia, Southeast Asia, U.S, Binance, United States, Thailand, China, Myanmar, KK, Ningbo, China’s, Xiamen

☆ Asia's drug trade is thriving post-pandemic, UN report warns
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Jessie Yeung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

There are other signs of the drug trade bouncing back. West African trafficking networks in East and Southeast Asia, which “all but disappeared” during the pandemic, have now resumed their activities, the report said. From Myanmar, meth and other synthetic drugs then travel out to the world, with shipments previously found as far away as Japan, New Zealand and Australia. It also pointed to the high number of drug-related arrests and admissions at drug treatment facilities as further evidence of robust trade. That figure is 167% higher than the previous year, according to the UNODC report.

Persons: ”, Jeremy Douglas, “, ” Douglas, Douglas, Inshik Sim Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, United Nations Office, Drugs, “, UNODC Regional Representative, Southeast, Central America Locations: Hong Kong, Asia, East, Southeast Asia, Yunnan, Myanmar, China, Thailand, Central, Laos, From Myanmar, Japan , New Zealand, Australia, South Asia, Bangladesh, India, Japan, Cambodia, France, Poland, Indonesia, South Korea

☆ UN says Myanmar opium cultivation has surged 33% amid violence
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Opium production in Myanmar has flourished since the military's takeover in 2021. The so-called Golden Triangle area, where the borders of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand meet, has historically been a major production area for opium and hosted many of the labs that converted it to heroin. Most of the opium exported by Myanmar goes to China and Vietnam, while heroin goes to many countries across the region, Douglas said. The cultivation of opium had been trending downward in recent years before the military took control of the government in 2021. After rising slightly in 2021, that spiked in 2022 to an estimated 790 metric tons (870 tons), according to the report.

☆ Myanmar opium cultivation surging under military rule - UN report
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jan 26 (Reuters) - Opium cultivation in military-ruled Myanmar jumped 33% last year, reversing a six-year downward trend in the strife-torn country, a United Nations report said on Thursday. The growth was "directly connected" to the political and economic turmoil in Myanmar since the military took power in a coup nearly two years ago, an official at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said. "Without alternatives and economic stability it is likely that opium cultivation and production will continue to expand," warned UNODC Myanmar country manager Benedikt Hofmann. The eastern Shan State, which borders China, Thailand and Laos, saw the biggest increase in cultivation, at 39%. The value of opium produced annually in Myanmar can reach up to $2 billion, with much of the drug smuggled out to neighbouring countries and on to the global market, the report added.

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