Myanmar regards the elimination of narcotic drugs as a national duty and is making all-out efforts to eliminate them through elimination of production and demand, law enforcement, community participation and collaboration with the international community. As a result, considerable success has been achieved.

To fight against drug abuse and illicit trafficking, Myanmar has always torched the seized drugs such as opium, heroine and stimulant tablets. As a gesture of hailing the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, the 20th ceremony to incinerate seized narcotic drugs was held in the compound of Drug Elimination Museum in Kamayut Township in Yangon on 26 June.

Opium, heroine, marijuana, stimulant tablets, chemical precursors destroyed at this ceremony only were worth over 148 million US dollars. Narcotic drugs have been destroyed for twenty times now and they were valued at over 14,809 million US dollars.

Narcotic drugs are a grave danger to the international community. Therefore, it cannot be solved by a nation or a region alone. Myanmar, on its part, is accelerating its fight against narcotic drugs in cooperation with her neighbours and other nations in the sub-region. Through information exchange with other nations, Myanmar has been successful in seizing narcotic drugs and arms, in extraditing drug traffickers to their respective countries and in destroying heroine refineries.

Liaison offices have been opened along the Myanmar-China border — in Lwe Je in Kachin State and Chin Shwe Haw in Shan State (North). There are also liason offices in Myawady, Tachilek and Kawthoung along the Myanmar-Thai border and in Wan Pon, Tachilek Township near the Myanmar-Lao border.

The danger of narcotic drugs is an enormous problem. However, we can succeed in rooting it out from our soil once and for all through enthusiastic participation of the entire people in the 15-year drug elimination plan and increased cooperation with international organizations.