Late last month, Indonesian authorities announced the seizure of around 2.6 tons of liquid methamphetamine from a ship off the coast of Sumatra. The bust was just the latest in a series of drug mega-seizures that have taken place over the past two years, as the region’s law enforcement agencies struggle to combat an unprecedented surge in trafficking.
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), authorities in East and Southeast Asia seized a record 349 tons of methamphetamine in 2025, a 48 percent increase over the previous year – and just 65 tons a decade ago. Seizures of ketamine also hit 52 tons, up 185 percent on 2024.
What lies behind Asia’s drug boom? The Diplomat’s Southeast Asia Editor Sebastian Strangio spoke recently with Jeremy Douglas, deputy director of operations at the UNODC, who previously spent a decade as the agency’s lead for East and Southeast Asia in Bangkok. Douglas spoke about the factors that have contributed to the unprecedented levels of drug production, the impact of civil war in Myanmar, and what might be done to stem the tide of illegal narcotics. Watch the interview, or keep scrolling for the transcript.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
