Asia-Pacific

Myanmar destroys 6,083 hectares of poppy plantation

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-03-07 11:07

YANGON - The Myanmar authorities destroyed a total of 6,083 hectares of poppy plantations illegally grown in the country in the 2010-11 poppy cultivation season, the official daily New Light of Myanmar reported Monday.

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The illicit plantations included those spoiled in townships in states and regions from Sept 1, 2010 to Feb 27, 2011.

The townships covered Mongton, Mongkhat, Mongping, Kengtung, Kutkai, Namhkam, Manton and Momeik in Shan state and Waingmaw, Tanai and Phakant in Kachin state, the report said.

In December 2009, Myanmar burned $93 million worth of seized narcotic drugs in Kengtung, eastern Shan state of the country. The burned drugs included 6.99 million tablets of stimulants, 819 kg heroin, 156 kg opium and 10 kg Ice.

Myanmar has been implementing a 15-year plan (1999-2014) to totally eradicate poppy in three phases, each running for five years, and it has now entered into the final five-year phase of the plan.