Opium production in Burma, also known as Myanmar, fell by nearly a quarter this year, according to a new United Nations report. Lower yields from opium poppies, a slump in prices and more effective poppy eradication programs are credited with cutting production. Even so, Burma’s “Golden Triangle” in the mountainous border region with Thailand and Laos is expected to produce about $500 million worth of the opium derivative heroin this year, second only to Afghanistan, which accounts for 80% of global production.
