‘It gets to you’: Crystal meth from Myanmar floods the streets of Australia | Drug news

Melbourne, Australia – The remote jungle hills of Myanmar may be a world away from sun-drenched Australia, but the two countries share a treacherous bond: crystalline methamphetamine.

Crystalline methamphetamine, also known as ‘ice’ or ‘crystal meth’, is a highly addictive substance that has infiltrated Australia’s suburbs.

Australian Federal Police estimate that about 70 percent of the drug comes from northeastern Myanmar, near the Golden Triangle, where the country borders Thailand and Laos, and is transported through Southeast Asia before arriving in Australia by boat.

A recent National Drug Strategy survey found that one in 100 Australians over the age of 14 had used ice in the past 12 months, especially in the country’s major cities.

The same study also found that approximately 7.5 percent of the Australian population had tried methamphetamine in their lifetime.

Charlie Samson, who lives in Australia’s second largest city, Melbourne, first smoked ice when he was just 18. He soon became addicted.

“We went for drinks, and someone knew a guy who had some ice cream. And so we all tried,” he told Al Jazeera.

“The next week we did the same thing, and it snowballed from there. Three or four months later I secretly bought it on a Monday because I had been up all weekend.’

At the height of his addiction, he was spending 2,500 Australian dollars ($1,690) a week on the drug. Despite his habit, Samson managed to keep his well-paying job in construction, with the vast majority of his salary going to the drug.

“Before I rolled out of bed, I had to smoke about an ounce to function,” he says.

‘It smelled like tea’

Australia’s official health campaigns often refer to ice users as “psychotic” and “violent”, underscoring the prevailing stereotype of the homeless “meth addict”.

However, Samson told Al Jazeera that ice addiction can affect anyone and that people can apparently remain functioning members of society even when addicted.

He said he has seen lawyers and businessmen all fall prey to the drug.

“I’ve met some people where I’m like, ‘He’s got a family, he’s paying a mortgage.’ And now he has nothing.” Because at some point it’s going to get a hold of you, even if it’s not financially, it’s going to get a hold of you mentally,” he said.

Samson, who is now 29, managed to hold down his job for six years before addiction completely took over his life, and it was only after a short stint in prison that he managed to get clean.

Although Samson told Al Jazeera he never knew where the ice came from, he did remember batches that “smelled like tea,” indicating methamphetamine originating in Myanmar, which is often smuggled in tea boxes.

Production of methamphetamine and heroin has increased in Myanmar since the 2021 military coup plunged the country into crisis and civil war. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) says methamphetamine seizures will reach a record 190 tonnes in 2023 in the east of the country. and Southeast Asia.

The UNODC says Myanmar has also emerged as the world’s leading source of opium.

Most of the drug production takes place in the northern hills of Shan and Wa states, regions long notorious for opium production and trafficking.

But the civil war has led to a spike in drug trafficking, including heroin, methamphetamine and what are known as yaba – small pills containing a mix of methamphetamine and caffeine – with the proceeds used to finance the conflict.

The Australian Federal Police, which maintains ongoing operations in the region as part of efforts to stem the flow of drugs into Australia, told Al Jazeera that “transnational crime is not just a consequence of, but a driver of, the current conflict as financing various actors in the conflict and thus reducing the incentive to pursue a lasting peace.”

“Like heroin, methamphetamine production historically remains an important source of income for transnational crime groups in Myanmar,” a spokesperson said. “The continued offshore seizures of drugs from Myanmar demonstrate that this region remains an important source for the lucrative Australian market.”

Between 2012 and 2022, almost 10 tonnes of ‘teabagged’ methamphetamine were seized by the Australian Federal Police. In 2022 alone, this included more than 2.1 tons with a street value of more than 1 billion Australian dollars ($671.6 million).

‘Teabag’ methamphetamine refers to methamphetamine manufactured in Southeast Asia and commonly packaged in branded tea bags for concealment and marketing purposes; different colors indicate purity, with green being the highest.

Although its likely origin is in Myanmar, police told Al Jazeera it was “difficult to put a percentage on the amount of methamphetamine originating in Myanmar because it is transported through multiple countries, making the true source of the illegal drugs remains hidden”.

More and more powerful

Samson has remained clean since leaving prison in June 2023.

But many other Australians are unable to break the ice cream addiction and struggle to even take the first step of seeking help.

Turning Point is a Melbourne-based clinic that offers support to people seeking help with methamphetamine use, including counseling and detox.

Clinical director Shalini Arunogiri echoes Samson’s observations that methamphetamine addiction affects a variety of Australians.

“We see people who may fit that stereotype of homeless people,” she told Al Jazeera. “But we definitely see people who work full-time. We see parents. We see people who have a well-functioning job and perhaps use it every day.”

She added that the stigma of methamphetamine addiction is often a barrier to people seeking help.

“I think there is a real stereotype that has been portrayed in the media, in advertising and in public health campaigns. Those public health campaigns are ineffective. In fact, they further marginalize people who use this drug.”

Arunogiri says the purity of methamphetamine sourced from regions with high trafficking volumes such as Myanmar has increased over the past two decades.

“The drug we have had available in Australia for the last ten years is quite potent – ​​we have crystalline methamphetamine with a very high potency. Here it is virtually impossible to get non-crystalline methamphetamine.”

She told Al Jazeera that the drug’s effects are visible on a range of physical, mental and criminological indicators.

“One in three people who use at least every week are likely to experience psychotic symptoms: seeing things, hearing things. We know that a significant proportion of them go on to develop things like schizophrenia and long-term mental illness. The use of methamphetamine also often involves criminal aspects.”

The Australian Institute of Health and Wellbeing recently reported that at least 46 percent of those entering prison had used methamphetamine in the past 12 months.

John Coyne, head of Strategic Policing and Law Enforcement at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, told Al Jazeera that methamphetamine use in Australia “fuels a cycle of criminal activity that often leads to incarceration.”

He says this includes theft and robbery to fund addiction, as well as violent behavior that can be caused by the drug.

“Additionally, the illegal nature of meth means that possession and trafficking come with harsh penalties, further contributing to incarceration rates,” he said.

Coyne says the ongoing conflict in Myanmar, along with endemic corruption and human rights abuses by the military regime, creates serious challenges for Australian police in tackling drug exports from the region.

“While disrupting illicit drug routes is essential to regional security, working with a regime known for its oppressive tactics raises ethical and legal concerns,” he said.

According to the United Nations, Myanmar’s military has killed more than 5,000 civilians since the coup and reintroduced the death penalty for political activities, executing pro-democracy activists.

The regime’s alleged direct involvement in drug trafficking poses numerous operational and ethical challenges for Australian law enforcement.

“The Australian Federal Police must carefully navigate these complexities and ensure that intelligence sharing is strictly focused on disrupting drug networks without inadvertently supporting a corrupt regime,” Coyne told Al Jazeera.

“This delicate balance is crucial to uphold international standards and prevent complicity in the junta’s ongoing human rights abuses.”