Everyone today seems to have some Idea of the drug trade south of the US border or perhaps Afghanistan. However, If you were asked about where the drug trade in Southeast Asia is going? If you replied with a sense of complete confusion, you would be totally forgiven. A changing political climate in two of the major countries in the region, Myanmar (formerly Burma) and Thailand both seem to strangely and contradictorily give both a boon and bust to the trade of Narcotics in the region. In the case of Myanmar the situation seems to at least nominally improving on the face of things. A new move towards democracy hopefully means more involvement by the international community in curbing Myanmar’s narcotics problem. Even on a smaller level, the people seem to be taking the action of fighting illegal drugs into their own hands. However the many reforms the government in Myanmar have been taking to create a more liberal-democratic state seem to be aiding the drug trade as the numbers of methamphetamines being shipped out of Myanmar to neighboring Thailand have increased, seemingly with the help of military units trying to achieve ceasefires with multiple ethnic resistance groups. The expansion of production among these various groups looks to exacerbate the problems, much to the disdain of Myanmar’s neighbors. Most of these drugs then find their way to Thailand where political changes don’t really sit right. The current leader of the military Junta that controls Thailand (which took control in a coup in 2014), General Prayuth Chan-ocha, shows strong indications of illegal activities and corruption. In the General’s defense, corruption in Thai security forces stemming from the drug trade, looks to be a common occurrence with little sign of slowing, especially as the Junta struggles to revert back to democracy. The end results seems to keep the infamous “Golden Triangle” region of drug production and trafficking alive and well for years to come.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/myanmar-clamps-down-on/2538980.html
This recent change in the nature and involvement of the Taliban in the heroin trade has also raised serious concerns in the international community, where the United Nations warned that the Taliban’s increasing involvement in drug trafficking “has real consequences for peace and security in Afghanistan, as it encourages those within the Taliban movement who have the greatest economic incentives to oppose any meaningful process of reconciliation with the new government.” Notably this increasing Taliban involvement in drug smuggling has stemmed from the sheer profitability of the drug trade compared to other illegal operations such as the smuggling of precious gems and lumber. Additionally, the lack of income from traditional donors in the Persian Gulf has ultimately forced the Taliban to become more self-reliant financially, which has undoubtedly pushed them more into the smuggling of opium. 
o their respective crime organization; one being z-42 and the other being Servando Gomez of the Knights Templar drug organization. This is a huge feat for Enrique Pena Nieto and the PRI, but backlash from both organizations is to be expected considering the inevitable power struggle that will take place.
s may replace some activities of the Zetas which will be another complex issue for the Mexican government. Nieto and his new Attorney General, although seemingly successful now, will surely have their hands full with the backlash regarding this arrest.
TRANS-NATIONAL CRIME AND TERRORISM 