DHAKA: Myanmar and Thailand incinerated some US$400 million worth of narcotics on Thursday to mark World Drugs Day, but the UN warned opium production was on the rise in the region.

In Myanmar, which has long struggled to control illegal drug production, some 1.3 tons of opium, 225 kilograms of heroin and 1.2 tons of methamphetamine tablets were destroyed in controlled blazes.

The haul was worth around US$130 million, according to Major Khin Maung Than of Myanmar’s anti-narcotics committee, who added that the country’s anti-drug campaign was running into problems in some regions that are home to ethic groups where drug production is highest.

‘As the government can’t reach agreement with some ethnic groups on anti-narcotics work, we can’t do the work effectively,’ he told reporters, according to The Straits Times.

BDST: 2130 HRS, JUNE 26, 2014