Hopong, 4 March

Police have destroyed illegal poppy fields near Laikkan Village in Hopong Township, located in the Pa-O Self-Administered Zone of southern Shan State, on the morning of December 3, according to the Myanmar Police Force.

A combined team, including Police Captain Htay Aung, Police Chief of Hopong Township, Tatmadaw personnel from Hopong, Police Sub-Inspector Aik Aung and policemen from the Pa-O Self-Administered Zone Police Command, and officials from the Township General Administration Department, Agriculture Department, Fire Services Department, Department of Land Records, Department of Forests, and Department of Health, worked together to eradicate 11 acres of blooming poppies, each about three feet tall. The fields were located approximately five furlongs northeast of Laikkan Village.

The destruction of poppy plantations in Hopong Township began on December 16 of the previous year. As of March 3 this year, a total of 167 acres of opium plantations have been eradicated, with additional poppy fields slated for destruction.—IPRD

Translated by JT