The UN office said that large shipments of over a tonne of methamphetamine were seized en route to or on maritime routes throughout 2023 and into early 2024.
Earlier this month, Thai authorities intercepted a tonne of crystal methamphetamine in one of the kingdom’s biggest ever single seizures of the illegal drug.
Drugs gangs are changing their recipes to increase their output, UNODC said.
“Organised crime groups are lowering the production costs and scaling up production by using non-controlled chemicals,” Masood Karimipour, the organisation’s representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, said in a statement.
Greater production is enabling bigger shipments which are driving down prices, he said.
Despite the large volumes of seizures and high inflation, prices of methamphetamine and ketamine had continued to fall, the office said.
The wholesale price of methamphetamine is now reaching as low as US$400 per kilogram in production areas, it said.
And new synthetic drug products are emerging on the market aimed at young users, the UN warned.
So-called “happy water” sachets and “party lollipops” – containing unpredictable mixes of substances like ketamine, MDMA and benzodiazepines – are becoming increasingly available.
