Why Should We Care if Chinese Chemicals are Fueling a Meth Tsunami in the Indo-Pacific? with Rebecca Tan

In Ep. 117, Washington Post Southeast Asia Bureau Chief Rebecca Tan joins co-hosts Ray Powell and Jim Carouso to discuss her investigative reporting on the massive surge of methamphetamines flooding the Asia-Pacific. While the U.S. remains focused on the fentanyl crisis, Tan explains how the same network of Chinese chemical manufacturers is simultaneously fueling a "meth tsunami" that is overwhelming law enforcement from Thailand to Australia.

The Global Syndicate

Rebecca details how Chinese chemical companies—often the very same entities supplying Mexican cartels with fentanyl precursors—are shipping vast quantities of drug ingredients into Southeast Asia. Unlike the U.S. opioid crisis, the Asian market is being inundated with methamphetamine produced in Myanmar’s lawless borderlands. Tan explains that this is not a parallel problem but a singular, global supply chain rooted in China’s massive chemical industry.

The New Golden Triangle

The conversation explores how drug production has shifted from mainland China to the "Wild West" of Myanmar’s Shan State. Following crackdowns by Beijing, criminal syndicates relocated to border areas controlled by ethnic militias like the United Wa State Army. Tan describes the surreal atmosphere of border towns like Tachilek, where casinos, scam compounds, and drug trafficking operations thrive under a distinct set of rules, shielded by the chaos of Myanmar's civil war.

Geopolitics of Precursors

A key takeaway is the geopolitical leverage Beijing holds over this trade. Tan notes that while China has the capacity to clamp down on these exports—as it does with critical minerals—it treats counternarcotics cooperation as a political bargaining chip. The hosts and Tan discuss the frustration of regional powers like Thailand and Australia, who lack the geopolitical weight of the U.S. to demand action from China, leaving them vulnerable to a flood of cheap, potent narcotics.

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👉 Follow Ray Powell on X, @GordianKnotRay, or LinkedIn, or check out his maritime transparency work at SeaLight

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👉 Sponsored by BowerGroupAsia, a strategic advisory firm that specializes in the Indo-Pacific