New report warns of Myanmar trafficking route, synthetic drug threat

3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Jun 26, 2026 09:16 PM IST

The Narcotics Control Bureau’s Annual Report 2025 warned that encrypted messaging apps such as Telegram, WhatsApp, and Signal have become channels for drug trafficking. (Image generated using AI)

With Myanmar overtaking Afghanistan as the leading source of illicit opium, with the switch driven by the after-effects of the Taliban’s ban on poppy cultivation and the continued expansion of cultivation in the south-east Asian country amid conflict and economic breakdown, India has a cause for concern at hand.

According to the Narcotics Control Bureau’s (NCB) Annual Report-2025, Afghanistan, which once supplied 94% of the world’s opium, faced a major setback after the April 2022 ban. As a result, global opium poppy cultivation fell by 68% and production dropped by 72% by 2024.

“(In Myanmar) Production has surged to a 10-year high, driven by the economic collapse and ongoing civil war following the 2021 military takeover. Shan State remains the epicentre, accounting for 88% of the country’s total cultivation. Currently, dried opium trades at about USD 750 per kilogram, 10 times the pre-ban price,” the report stated.

That shift has direct implications for India. The report identified a trafficking corridor from Myanmar into India’s North-East as a major security concern, linking the drug trade not only to addiction and organised crime but also to arms smuggling and the financing of militant groups.

The porous border and Free Movement Regime (FMR) facilitate trafficking, exacerbate local addiction, and fund insurgent groups,” the report said, adding that all these factors heighten the risk.

The report also mapped the evolving routes that place India at the crossroads of multiple trafficking flows.

The Afghanistan-Pakistan-Iran corridor, or the Golden Crescent, remains the world’s primary opiate trafficking complex, with spillover routes extending into India by land through Punjab and Rajasthan, and by sea along the Gujarat and Maharashtra coasts.

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The report stated that maritime routes are becoming harder to detect because traffickers increasingly rely on fishing vessels and small coastal craft. To the east, Myanmar’s Golden Triangle has deepened its role as both an opiate supplier and a methamphetamine hub.

The report also identified the Manipur corridor as a key land entry point for heroin and methamphetamine tablets entering India, while also flagging the Bay of Bengal as an emerging maritime route.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan remains central to the global heroin economy despite a sharp contraction in cultivation after the 2022 poppy ban.

Also, the synthetic drug trade is undergoing what the report described as the most fundamental structural change in global narcotics markets.

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According to the report, amphetamine-type stimulants accounted for nearly half of all synthetic drug seizures globally in 2023, with methamphetamine and amphetamine remaining the dominant substances.

Methamphetamine production, the report stated, remains concentrated in hubs, including Mexico, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Czechia, and the Netherlands, while trafficking patterns are expanding across Europe, Africa, and the Near and Middle East.

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Mahender Singh Manral is an Assistant Editor with the national bureau of The Indian Express. He is known for his impactful and breaking stories. He covers the Ministry of Home Affairs, Investigative Agencies, National Investigative Agency, Central Bureau of Investigation, Law Enforcement Agencies, Paramilitary Forces, and internal security.

Prior to this, Manral had extensively reported on city-based crime stories along with that he also covered the anti-corruption branch of the Delhi government for a decade. He is known for his knack for News and a detailed understanding of stories. He also worked with Mail Today as a senior correspondent for eleven months. He has also worked with The Pioneer for two years where he was exclusively covering crime beat.

During his initial days of the career he also worked with The Statesman newspaper in the national capital, where he was entrusted with beats like crime, education, and the Delhi Jal Board. A graduate in Mass Communication, Manral is always in search of stories that impact lives. ... Read More

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