24 drug seizures linked to AA members over nine-year period since 2016
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Htet Nadi (NP News) - Jan 7
There were 24 drug seizures involving AA members from 2016 to December 23, 2025, including nine cases involving AA leaders themselves. According to statements, the arrested individuals were not carrying out drug trafficking as a private business but were doing so as a task assigned to the AA, said Lt. Gen. Tun Tun Naung, Chairman of the Central Committee on Counter-Terrorism and Union Minister for Home Affairs.
Lt. Gen. Tun Tun Naung, said that “Terrorist groups around the world seek funds through illegal channels, including drug trafficking and human trafficking. Myanmar needs to prevent and combat the financing of terrorism in order to escape the surveillance of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). We must act in accordance with domestic laws and international regulations, including UN Security Council Resolutions 1373 and 2462. The drug trafficking business of the terrorist AA group is expanding and is being linked to international drug cartels by smuggling chemicals to produce drugs, manufacturing drugs, transporting and storing them, distributing them domestically, and exporting them abroad. There were 24 drug seizures involving AA members from 2016 to 23 December 2025, including nine cases involving AA leaders.”
It can be understood that according to the statements, the arrested people were not running the drug trafficking business as a private operation, but were doing it as assigned by the AA group. He said that about 70 percent of the profits from drugs are used to purchase weapons and ammunition, and that they are linked to international arms trafficking gangs and are also involved in transnational crimes such as money laundering and human trafficking, including exchanging weapons and ammunition for methamphetamine.
He continued by saying that “Terrorism, arms smuggling, drugs, money laundering and human trafficking are interconnected. According to the international and regional trends of 2025, terrorist groups mainly obtain their operational expenses and money to purchase weapons from drug trafficking. The money obtained from drugs and human trafficking is laundered in various ways, including crypto-currency, and then used for terrorist activities. These crimes are linked across borders, so regional cooperation is necessary. The key to preventing and combating transnational crimes, including terrorism, is information sharing and mutual legal assistance. Our country has also enacted a law on mutual assistance in criminal matters and has also established a central body in accordance with the law. Therefore, the central bodies that have been established in accordance with the relevant laws must connect and cooperate with each other.”
He went on to highlight the importance of international cooperation in countering terrorism, noting the country’s active engagement with INTERPOL and ASEANAPOL. He also referred to the development of national policy guidelines to combat terrorism and violent extremism (CT and VE/CVE), grounded in the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, the ASEAN Convention on Counter-Terrorism, and the BIMSTEC Convention.