Officials clear a field of opium poppies in Luang Namtha province.

Luang Namtha police clear 9 hectares of opium poppies

Authorities in Viengphoukha district, Luang Namtha province, have cut down 15 hectares of opium poppies found growing on 33 plots of land.
Officials from the province’s Narcotics Inspection and Control Department, together with soldiers from the National Defence and Security Force in Viengphoukha district, wiped out the crop, which had been planted by people living in Namvang, Namon and Namkheuang villages.
Deputy Director of the Public Security Department in Luang Namtha province, Lieutenant Colonel Thuangxay Duangmala, said officials and soldiers used wooden sticks to smash the poppy plants and uprooted young plants so they would not regrow.
The owner of the land was brought before the police, who made a written record of the incident and warned the man not to repeat the offence.
Last year, 15 hectares of opium poppies found growing on 47 plots of land were also cleared.
Opium is a stimulant that has a strong effect on the nervous system. It is used in the production of heroin and is banned in Laos.
Authorities discourage people from growing the crop because of its addictive properties when smoked, as is traditional among some rural communities.
Police urge people from all walks of life to share in efforts to stamp out drug production, abuse and trade, as mandated in the government’s national agenda on the resolution of the drug problem to free society from this terrible scourge.
The government has made clear its intention to wipe out the cultivation of opium poppies, but the crop continues to be planted covertly, especially in the north of Laos.
In other attempts to curb the production of opium, last year, officers from the Department of Drug Inspection and Control under the command of the Xieng Khuang provincial police, together with police in Phoukoud district, cut down poppies growing on an 11,000-square metre plot in Phoukoud district.
Also last month, officials from the Luang Namtha Police Department cut down opium poppy plants found growing on 2,950 square metres of land in Namkhoun village, Luang Namtha district.
Armed with scythes, members of the provincial Department of Narcotics Inspection and Control slashed the poppy plants and placed wooden planks on the ground so that more could not be planted.
Local authorities are encouraging villagers to grow other crops instead, so they can earn money through legal farming activities, and also take up livestock farming to augment their income.

By Times Reporters
 (Latest Update January 16, 2025)