Report: Myanmar opium cultivation surges 33% amid violence

FILE - A villager walks in a flourishing poppy field at Nampatka village, Northern Shan State, Myanmar on Jan. 27 , 2014. The production of opium in Myanmar has flourished since the military's seizure of power, with the cultivation of poppies up by a third in the past year as eradication efforts have dropped off and the faltering economy has led more people toward the drug trade, according to a United Nations report released Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe, File)