Imphal-based COCOMI writes to European Parliament on its Manipur resolution

Subject: International Relations

Section: Groupings

Concept :

An umbrella body of Imphal Valley-based civil society organisations has asked the European Parliament not to let Manipur become the “new Golden Triangle” of drug trade by projecting the violence between what it called “immigrant Chin-Kuki narco-terrorists” and indigenous Meitei people in the State as a religious conflict.

Golden Triangle

Golden Triangle includes the area of three countries namely Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand, where the cultivation and production of drugs such as opium and heroin have been prevalent.
The area has been a major source of illegal drugs, contributing to the global drug trade, along with Golden Crescent (comprising Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan).
After Afghanistan, Myanmar has been a significant cog of the transnational drug trade as it is the second-largest producer of illicit opium.
As per the data by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), a specialised United Nations Agency, it is estimated that there were 430 square kilometres (167 sq mi) of opium cultivation in Myanmar in 2005.
The opium and heroin base produced in northeastern Myanmar is transported by donkey and horse caravan to refineries along the Thailand-Burma border where they are converted to the final products.
The finished products are then shipped across the border to towns in Northern Thailand and down to Bangkok for further distribution to international markets.