UN: Myanmar Overtakes Afghanistan as World’s Top Opium Producer

UN: Myanmar Overtakes Afghanistan as World’s Top Opium Producer

联合国：缅甸超越阿富汗，成为全球最大的鸦片生产国

【听力音频】

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　　By Bryan Lynn

　　20 December 2023

　　A United Nations report finds that Myanmar has overtaken Afghanistan as the world's top opium producer.

　　The change came after Myanmar expanded its opium production for a third year, the U.N. reported. In Afghanistan, production fell sharply in 2023 after the Taliban placed a ban on poppy farming.

　　The latest data on worldwide opium production was recently released in the U.N.'s report, the Southeast Asia Opium Survey 2023. The report was released by the U.N.'s Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

　　The report estimates opium crops in Afghanistan dropped an estimated 95 percent in 2023 after the Taliban's ban and enforcement efforts.

　　During the same period, an increasing number of farmers in Myanmar turned to opium as a new crop. The increase in production follows a military takeover of the government in 2021 that pushed the country into a civil war. The situation has severely hurt Myanmar's economy.

　　The U.N. report estimates poppy growth and processing in Myanmar grew 33 percent in 2022 and another 18 percent this year. That amounts to a total of 47,000 hectares. That is the most land Myanmar has used for opium production since 2013.

　　Jeremy Douglas is the area representative for the UNODC. He told VOA the country's economic and security situation have severely limited business possibilities and led more people to turn to opium farming to make money.

　　Most families in Myanmar make their living off the land. But a World Bank report released in May found that nearly half of farming families said they worry about having enough food. That number was up from 26 percent from a year earlier.

　　The UNODC estimates Myanmar's farmers grew enough poppy this year to produce up to 1,080 metric tons of dry opium. This amounted to total earnings of up to $2.5 billion. Most of this money is believed to have gone to traffickers shipping the product across Asia and as far as Australia, often as heroin.

　　Most of that heroin flows through neighboring Thailand on its way to other places. In September, Thai police seized over 440 packs of heroin, along with some 15 million methamphetamine pills. A top Thai law enforcement official told VOA the $8.2 million drug seizure was the largest in the country's history.

　　The UNODC report notes Afghanistan's reduced opium production is expected to create a worldwide heroin shortage and drive prices higher. This is likely to lead even more farmers in Myanmar to start growing poppies.

　　Douglas said such a shortage could also result in more heroin processed in the Golden Triangle area making its way beyond the Asia-Pacific to Europe and North America. The Golden Triangle is a heavily criminalized area near the borders of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand. It is known for growing and producing large amounts of drugs.

　　Afghan heroin started taking over the European and North American markets from the Golden Triangle more than 10 years ago. That change came as drug controllers in Southeast Asia started dealing mostly in methamphetamine.

　　Douglas told VOA that even as Afghan production falls sharply, there is still large demand for opium on the world market. He said, "It's highly likely that we're going to start seeing Golden Triangle heroin returning to markets that it hasn't been in for quite some years."

　　I'm Bryan Lynn.

　　Voice of America's Zsombor Peter and the United Nations reported on this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the reports for VOA Learning English.

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　　作者：Bryan Lynn

　　日期：2023年12月20日

　　联合国的一份报告发现，缅甸已经超越阿富汗，成为全球最大的鸦片生产国。

　　联合国报告称，这一变化是在缅甸连续第三年扩大鸦片生产后发生的。在阿富汗，塔利班禁止种植罂粟后，2023年的生产量急剧下降。

　　联合国最近在其报告《2023年东南亚鸦片调查》中发布了全球鸦片生产的最新数据。这份报告由联合国毒品和犯罪办公室（UNODC）发布。

　　报告估计，由于塔利班的禁令和执法努力，阿富汗的鸦片作物在2023年下降了大约95%。

　　在同一时期，越来越多的缅甸农民转向鸦片作为新的作物。生产的增加是在2021年军方接管政府，推动该国进入内战之后的情况。这种情况严重损害了缅甸的经济。

　　联合国的报告估计，缅甸的罂粟生长和加工在2022年增长了33%，今年又增长了18%。这相当于总共47,000公顷。这是缅甸自2013年以来用于鸦片生产的最多的土地。

　　杰里米·道格拉斯是联合国毒品和犯罪办公室的区域代表。他告诉美国之音，该国的经济和安全状况严重限制了商业可能性，并导致更多的人转向鸦片种植以赚钱。

　　在缅甸，大多数家庭靠土地为生。但是，世界银行在5月份发布的一份报告发现，近一半的农民家庭表示他们担心食物是否足够。这个数字比一年前的26%有所上升。

　　联合国毒品和犯罪办公室估计，今年缅甸的农民种植的罂粟足以生产多达1080公吨的干鸦片。这相当于总收入高达25亿美元。据信，这笔钱的大部分都流向了贩运这种产品到亚洲甚至澳大利亚的贩毒者，通常以海洛因的形式。

　　大部分海洛因通过邻国泰国流向其他地方。9月份，泰国警方查获了超过440包海洛因，以及大约1500万粒冰毒。一位泰国高级执法官员告诉美国之音，这次价值820万美元的毒品查获是该国历史上最大的一次。

　　联合国毒品和犯罪办公室的报告指出，预计阿富汗减少的鸦片生产将导致全球海洛因短缺并推高价格。这可能会导致更多的缅甸农民开始种植罂粟。

　　道格拉斯表示，这种短缺也可能导致更多在金三角地区加工的海洛因流向亚太地区以外的欧洛美。金三角是缅甸、老挝和泰国边境附近的一个犯罪严重的地区，以种植和生产大量毒品而闻名。

　　阿富汗的海洛因在10多年前开始从金三角接管欧洲和北美的市场。这种变化是因为东南亚的毒品控制者开始主要经营冰毒。

　　道格拉斯告诉美国之音，尽管阿富汗的生产量急剧下降，但世界市场上对鸦片的需求仍然很大。他说：“我们很可能会开始看到金三角的海洛因重新回到它多年未进入的市场。”

　　我是Bryan Lynn。

　　美国之音的Zsombor Peter和联合国报道了这个故事。Bryan Lynn为美国之音学习英语改编了这些报道。

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　　本故事中的词汇

　　overtake – v. 超过，赶超并超过某人或某物