KNOWN as the Golden Land, it is one of the most beautiful places on the planet, boasting unspoilt beaches, majestic mountains and stunning temples.
But Myanmar has been plagued by corruption in recent years and has now been named as the world’s organised crime hotspot.
Following the military takeover in 2021, the South East Asian nation has turned into a hub for global illicit activities, harboring warlords, human traffickers, drug cartels, and cybercriminals who operate from the conflict-ridden region.
Ravaged by civil war, thousands have been killed, three million displaced and entire towns destroyed.
The nation has also witnessed the emergence of a brand-new urban center – described as a miniature version of Las Vegas – where numerous illicit casinos have popped up, enabling an underground gambling scene to thrive alongside sophisticated online fraudulent schemes.
But it wasn’t always like that.
Most locals adhere to a Burmese religion based around the worship of Nature Spirits which are regularly celebrated in wildly fun festivals.
In addition, the country boasts stunning Buddhist temples, with historic capital cities like Amarapura, Sagaing, and Inwa adorned with magnificent stupas and pagodas.
But with its stunning poppy fields, Myanmar – previously known as Burma – has become a major player in the international drug trade.
According to the Global Organised Crime Index it is now the world’s second-largest producer of opium, accounting for a quarter of the global supply, and the largest producer of heroin in the region.
Mark Farmaner, Director of UK-based charity Advance Myanmar, says the drug trade has being going on for years and has been facilitated by the Burmese Military.
“At the root of all this is the Burmese Military which has allowed this situation since the 1990s because that is what it needed to prop itself up and because so many members of the military are corrupt and have been involved in these kinds of deals,” he explains.
“Senior members of the military have been benefitting personally as well as the institution benefitting politically.”
Opium ravaging the country
In the Shan region of Myanmar the opium poppy is known as ‘the peace flower’, which is ironic as criminal gangs fight for dominance over its lucrative trade.
After the coup of 1988, which ousted dictator Ne Win, the struggling Burmese Military struck deals with ethnic arms groups to buy them off, allowing them to run their own territories, which led to an expansion of drug manufacturing and dealing.
Before the military coup, farmers grew their poppy crops in secret away from the prying eyes of the authorities.
But now, with no government, the poppies are grown in plain sight.
“Now there is no government, no military, so we don’t have to hide,” Hla Win told the New York Times, as she returned from tending her poppies in a field across the street from her house. “It’s the best time ever for opium.”
The police station is where young people go to buy the drugs
Mark Farmaner, Advance Myanmar
Before the coup, elected officials and foreign bureaucrats had tried to convince Shan opium farmers to grow legitimate crops such as avocados, coffee and corn.
But for impoverished farmers in isolated areas the market for opium was far more lucrative.
Jungle drug factories
It isn’t just heroin that is rife – the country is also one of the world’s largest manufacturers of synthetic drugs, including methamphetamine, ketamine and fentanyl.
With jungle lab drug factories in overdrive, the street price of these drugs are alarmingly cheap.
A bottle of beer in Myanmar costs about 80p. A little pink pill, a potent combination of methamphetamine and caffeine known as yaba, can cost as little as 20p.
And another drug of choice in the nightclubs of South East Asia is “happy water” – a potentially lethal mixture that can contain MDMA, tramadol, caffeine, diazepam and ketamine.
This has led to many locals becoming hopelessly addicted.
Mark Farmaner says: “The Myanmar military allows drug use in ethnic states, they see it as a way of weakening resistance to their rule, but don’t tolerate it in central Myanmar.
“On one trip to Karen State in Myanmar I asked people if they report the drug problem to police and what the police do. They laughed and said the police station is where young people go to buy the drugs.”
‘Mini Las Vegas’
Drugs aren’t the only illegal activity plaguing Myanmar. The Global Organised Crime Index says financial scams and illegal gambling – both linked to human trafficking – are rife.
Locals and trafficking victims are crammed into offices where they engage in online conversations with people across the globe.
It may be a lonely widow looking for love, who is duped into thinking she is talking to an admirer before being persuaded to hand over thousands in hard-earned cash, or a would-be investor lured in by a crypto-currency scam.
The callers build up a close connection with the victim in a scam known as “pig butchering”— which refers to fattening a pig before slaughter.
The United Nations estimated last year that at least 120,000 foreigners were being forced into the cyber crime and online gambling industries in Myanmar.
Some have been fooled into thinking they were going for legitimate jobs, after applying through adverts promising extravagant perks, and others were kidnapped off the streets of China.
They are then held prisoner and forced to work in enclaves run by warlords, in inhumane and abusive conditions, often subjected to torture and violent threats if they don’t comply.
The area also depends heavily on illegal gambling, according to the Global Organised Crime Network, with casino operations targeted at Chinese nationals continuing to grow.
The illegal gambling boom has helped to create a “mini Las Vegas” on the country’s border with Thailand.
Shwe Kokko New City is home to many of the online scammers and the hub for the country’s illegal gambling networks.
Mark Farmaner says: “It is huge. When you are in Thailand, across the border, you can see this town on the other side of the river in Burma that is massive.
“You can see from miles away the glow in the night, all the buildings. In the jungle they have built this massive scam centre and it is all built with the support and cooperation of the military. It is almost a small-scale Vegas.”
Other global financial crimes in the country include illegal SIM card distributors who have created a vast and complex network of call centre scams.
Criminals often pose as state officials representing the police to convince victims to pay them fees and provide their national ID card and bank account details.
Some of the gangs behind these scams are led by Chinese and Taiwanese nationals collaborating with Thai citizens.
Brutal dictators
Mark Farmaner says the Shwe Kokko scam epicentre was created with the cooperation of the Burmese Military.
“In the 1990s, the resistance force the Karen National Union, took control of part of Karen state. They have their own administration, schools and hospitals in their area and their own army that is protecting the Karen people there,” he explains.
“They were one of the strongest resistance forces, so the Burmese Military played divide and rule because some of the Karen were Buddhist and some were Christian.
They are acting effectively like brutal dictators. They can do what they like and local people are too afraid to speak out
Mark Farmaner
“So they managed to get some of the Karen army to split. They then took over an area of land where the Burmese Military said ‘do what you like here.’
“They immediately got into Illegal cross-border trade and drugs and now they have this massive Shwe Kokko centre, this illegal town with human trafficking, everything – you name it, it is going on there.”
With no resolution in sight, the ongoing conflict in Myanmar has allowed it to become one of the most corrupt countries in the world and lawlessness goes virtually unchallenged.
“The impact on the local people of the global criminal network on their doorstep is huge,” says Mark.
“Local people are suffering terribly. They are losing their land, they are losing their livelihoods.
“Some people are being forced to work. There are groups who want peace, they want democracy and they are fighting to resist the military.
“But then there are criminal groups who have done deals with the Burmese Military.
“A lot of the criminal gangs running these scam centres have no respect for human rights, they are very brutal and authoritarian. And they are funded by the drugs and the illegal scam centres.
“I have seen some of the leaders driving around in red and yellow Porsches. They are acting effectively like brutal dictators. They can do what they like and local people are too afraid to speak out.”
The history of Myanmar’s struggles
By Mark Farmaner of Advance Myanmar
Since the first military coup in 1962, the root of the problem has been the identity of the country. There is an ethnic Bamar Buddhist majority which the Burmese Military are from and they believe that Burma is a Bamar Buddhist country.
But there are a substantial amount of ethnic minorities around the country, particularly in the mountainous border areas, which were never fully under the control of the Burmese kings.
Under British rule (1824 to 1948) we brought the whole region together as Burma and, after we left, the Bamar wanted it all to remain part of Burma, rather than the ethnic communities controlling their own land and their own natural resources.
The Burmese government, in the 1950s, promised to give more autonomy and rights to the ethnic people but the Burmese Military, who see all minorities as foreign and not belonging in the country, opposed this and launched the first coup.
Many of the ethnic groups in the country took up arms to defend themselves but were suppressed by the Burmese Military.
China-backed communist insurgents in Shan state were also involved in conflicts but when China stopped backing the expansion of communism, many of these separated into ethnic-based armed groups which became involved in drugs.
After the coup in 1988, the Burmese Military was in trouble and struck deals with ethnic armed groups, giving them autonomy. To buy off warring leaders they offered a peace deal in return for control of the natural resources, such as timber, gems and minerals.
Rather than looking the other way with drugs, they actively facilitated the drug trade, with core commanders either involved themselves or being bribed in the ethnic states and allowing their banking systems to be used.
There is a global financial action task force which rates countries according to the risk of money laundering, drugs or terrorism and, last year, Myanmar was placed on to the top grade because of the risk that, if you do business in the country, you could be linked with money laundering or drug dealing.
This scares a lot of banks. Many had already been scared off by the coup and the conflict but the fear of corruption causes a huge amount of problems.
