Drugs in Cambodia - Golden Triangle

Golden Triangle

The Golden Triangle is one of Asia's two main illicit opium-producing areas with the other area being the Golden Crescent. The triangle is an area of roughly 350,000 square kilometers that overlaps the mountainous regions of four nations of Southeast Asian: Myanmar also known as Burma, Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand. The Golden Crescent is located at the intersection of Central, South, and Western Asia. This area overlaps the borders of Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan with the mountainous regions which define the location of the crescent. In both of these areas illicit drugs are produced and traffickers export these drugs out of the country and or shipped throughout neighboring nations. The Ruak and Mekong rivers of these areas also influences the ease of how drugs are transported through this area.

The drugs are transported through the Triangle by horse and donkey caravans to refineries where the drugs are further processed and refined to become more pure. They are then most frequently brought to the United States and other countries by couriers traveling on commercial airlines or they are smuggled into the country by shipping containers.