ASEAN integration fuelling trafficking, crime
Southeast Asia is witnessing an explosion of organised crime thanks to increasing economic integration, according to a new United Nations report.
The illegal trafficking of people, drugs, counterfeit goods and wildlife is already estimated to exceed US$100 billion a year – more than the GDP of Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia combined. Yet as the borders become increasingly porous, the black market trade is undergoing a corresponding expansion, with “Golden Triangle” drug trafficking on the rise as criminal networks take advantage of lax security.
