On Friday, dramatic footage surfaced from Burma, capturing a significant moment where hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of heroin, methamphetamine, and various other illegal substances were set ablaze.
The burn-off included over 50 tons of these confiscated drugs—comprising opium, ketamine, marijuana, and crystal meth—with an estimated street value of $600 million. This event was part of the country’s observance of the United Nations’ International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, reported The Associated Press.
Significantly, the total street value of the destroyed drugs this year more than doubled last year’s figure, according to Police Lt. Col. Aung Myat Soe from Yangon’s Anti-Narcotics Police Force. He noted that just in Yangon, drugs worth approximately $321 million, involving 31 different types, went up in flames.
On the outskirts of Yangon, a destruction ceremony unfolded, as thick smoke and vibrant flames rose from the destruction of illegal narcotics, observed as part of the U.N.’s International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on Friday, June 26, 2026. (Thein Zaw/AP)
Captured footage depicted a vast collection of drugs engulfed by a fierce blaze in Yangon, sending dense black plumes of smoke into the sky, vividly illustrating the scale of the operation.
Burma has been a major source of illegal drugs destined for East and Southeast Asia, despite repeated efforts to crack down, and has long been one of the world’s largest producers of heroin and methamphetamine.
More than 50 tons of heroin, opium, ketamine, methamphetamine, marijuana and crystal meth were burned on Friday, June 26, 2026, in Burma, to mark the U.N.’s International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. (AP)
Violent political unrest in Burma following the military takeover in 2021 — which has led into a civil war between the military government and its pro-democracy opponents, as well as ethnic armed groups — has caused an increase in drug production, experts told the AP.
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A police officer stands in front of seized illegal narcotics during a destruction ceremony marking the U.N.’s International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, on the outskirts of Yangon, Burma, on Friday, June 26, 2026. (Thein Zaw/AP)
In January, the military government claimed the country’s largest-ever seizures of illicit drugs and drug-manufacturing equipment, taken from a total of 12 drug production sites during a series of raids in the northern part of Shan state.
The U.N. says its June 26 International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking is “an expression of its determination to strengthen action and cooperation to achieve the goal of an international society free of drug abuse.”
“Supported each year by individuals, communities, and various organizations all over the world, this global observance aims to raise awareness of the major problem that illicit drugs represent to society,” the U.N. added.
Firefighters spray water in front of illegal narcotics being burnt during a destruction ceremony in Burma on Friday, June 26, 2026. (Thein Zaw/AP)
“Global drug use and the number of drugs on the market have been increasing in the past decades. The century-long dominance of heroin in illicit global opioid markets is increasingly being challenged by changes in the illegal supply of opioids,” it added. “Production, seizures and use of cocaine continue to rise, while low costs of manufacture and reduced risks of detection of synthetic drugs are contributing to their increase on illicit drug markets.”