Part two: Asia.

This article reports on the situation of drug trade in Asia during 1998 and 1999. The Asian drug trade continues to revolve around two production poles: Afghanistan, for Southwest Asia and the Caucasus; and Burma, for Southeast Asia, the Far East and Australia. Both countries are at war and their governments earn money from drug production and exports. In Afghanistan, opium production more than doubled between 1998 and 1999, while increasingly heroin is manufactured in the country itself. Neighboring countries are the first victims of this booming output: Central Asia, China, Pakistan, Iran, and the west of India. Due to climatic reasons, fewer poppies grew in Burma in 1998 and 1999 than in previous years. However, this does not mean that the opium output has diminished a lot, because of productivity gains. The main novelty is that Burma has become Asia's largest methamphetamine producer. Some countries, like India, Nepal and China, receive drug flows from Burma and Afghanistan. In several countries, such as Cambodia, China, India, Pakistan and Vietnam, some sectors of the military or of the intelligence community are involved in the drug trade. Practically everywhere in Asia, politicians and senior officials participate directly in drug activities or protect them.