Ketamine & vapes dominate INTERPOL’s latest drug sweep across Asia
Over US$1.1 billion worth of drugs were seized in less than a month
INTERPOL has released results from Operation Lionfish-Mayag IV, which ran from May 18 to June 4, targeting supply chains in Southeast Asia.
Led by INTERPOL and funded by the Korean National Police Agency, 17 countries took part (12 of them in Asia) and police made 7,247 seizures worth over USD 1.1 billion, with up to 650 tonnes of drugs, precursors and pharmaceutical products.
For the first time in an INTERPOL synthetic drug operation, ketamine beat methamphetamine by volume, with 17 tonnes against 8.2 tonnes of meth and Ya Ba.
Cannabis and cannabinoids took the largest share at about 94%, mostly from four seizures in the Philippines. Myanmar logged the biggest single haul, 10.6 million Ya Ba tablets.
Vapes also had a strong showing; Indonesia seized 1,975 litres of etomidate. Overall, the operation found 724 kg of liquid DMT meant for vapes; the largest amount any police operation has reported.
Malaysia raided its first fentanyl laboratory, and China intercepted 307kg of cocaine from a newly identified sea route out of South America.
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A few cases from earlier this year point to the same ketamine and vape trends.
In January, Thai police on Koh Phangan found Labubu-shaped pills reported to mix MDMA with ketamine and cocaine. The following month, Indonesia’s narcotics agency reported that 23.97 percent of 438 vape liquid samples contained narcotics.
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In April, Bangkok police found 900kg of ketamine under a load of cabbages.
“The surge in ketamine seizures and the growth of vape-based drugs such as etomidate and DMT show how rapidly the synthetic drug trade is evolving. No country can see the full picture alone”, said David Caunter, Director of Organised and Emerging Crime at INTERPOL.
Read more on the operation here.
Amira Waworuntu is Mixmag Asia’s Managing Editor, follow her on Instagram.
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