Arakan State residents have warned of an alarming rise in the availability of stimulants and other illicit narcotics despite the fact that, unlike other parts of the country, there are no poppy fields or large-scale drug production facilities to speak of.
Yaba — a Thai word that translates to “crazy medicine” and describes pills combining addictive methamphetamine with caffeine — can now easily be bought in rural parts of Arakan State where drug dealings and abuse were almost unheard of in the past.
“Drugs were not available in our area in the past,” said one resident of Apaukwa Village in Kyauktaw Township. “Drug abuse has increased since 2017. People mostly use yaba pills here.”
The increased availability of yaba pills has resulted in growing drug abuse among young people of both rural and urban populations in many Arakan State townships including Sittwe, Mrauk-U and Kyaukphyu.
Civil society organisations in Arakan State say the rise in drug abuse is the result of political instability, poor law enforcement, and a lack of awareness campaigns about the dangers of drugs.
“If the government’s anti-drug body fails to implement rehabilitation programs for drug addicts, it will be difficult to tackle the drug abuse,” said Saw San Nyein Thu, chairwoman of the Rakhine Women’s Initiative Organization.
She criticised authorities who she said are only targeting users, and are failing to take action against dealers.
“This problem won’t be solved unless the dealers are handled effectively. At the same time, there have barely been awareness campaigns for young people,” she added.
Young activists also stressed the need for rehabilitation programmes for drug addicts.
“Some want to come off drugs, but what is happening here is you might be arrested for abusing drugs if you tell authorities you want to do so,” said Ko Zeya Kyaw, vice chair of the Thandar Yin Thee Youth Association in Kyaukphyu. “And there is also discrimination against drug users in society. So, they have difficulties. We must give chances to those who want to change.”
In Arakan State, the bulk of drug seizures have taken place in Maungdaw, Mrauk-U, Sittwe, Ann and Kyaukphyu townships.
Some of the biggest drug busts in Arakan State have taken place after the 2021 coup — 10 billion kyats of yaba pills were seized from a tanker truck at Maungdaw’s Kyee Kan Pyin checkpoint in August 2021, and 20 billion kyats worth of drugs were seized at an Ann Township checkpoint in April 2022.
Despite large seizures like these, drug abuse and dealings in Arakan State have shown no signs of abating, according to residents, who say drug abuse is a contributing factor to rising crime rates in the state capital Sittwe and elsewhere.
