Vientiane authorities burned a large haul of seized drugs including 1,480 kg of dried cannabis at the That Luang esplanade for the 27th anti-drugs day. A later state-agency retrospective gave sharply different quantities, so the contemporary figures are used here.
A haul of seized drugs went up in smoke at the That Luang esplanade in Vientiane in June 2014 to mark the 27th anniversary of the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.[1]
The contemporary account put the haul at more than 3.8 million amphetamine tablets, 238.5 kg of heroin, 47.8 kg of raw opium, 1,480 kg of dried cannabis, 83.5 kg of morphine and 22.3 kg of crystal methamphetamine (ya ice).[1]A year later the state news agency described the same anniversary burning very differently: three tonnes of dried cannabis, 49.2 grams of ice, 334 grams of heroin, 32.2 kg of Ameflu and more than 5.4 million amphetamine tablets.[2]
The 2014 account also said the authorities had closed 1,581 drug cases and arrested 2,140 offenders that year.[1]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Only the month of the burning is known; 26 June, the anniversary day, is used as a stand-in.
The two accounts disagree sharply on every quantity: the figures above follow the contemporary account, and the later retrospective is quoted in the text.
No arrests or court outcomes for the cases behind the destroyed drugs were reported.
Three Malaysians aged 25 to 29 were arrested at Wattay International Airport in Vientiane with 86 kg of cannabis in 103 packages, concealed in suitcases and bound for Germany. The case was one of the few cannabis-specific airport seizures reported in 2025.
Lao media reported on 26 March 2024 that a couple had been arrested in Bolikhamxay with more than 800 kg of cannabis and nearly 300 amphetamine pills. The same report described 1,000 kg of crystal meth seized in Xayaboury and 166 kg in Bokeo. It gave no charge, court date or sentence for the cannabis case.
Radio Free Asia reported in January 2024 that Thai drinks containing up to 0.2% THC were on sale in Vientiane markets, despite Laos's ban. A Vientiane police officer said only cannabis products authorised by the Ministry of Health for medical use were allowed and that police confiscated illegal products.
Lao Customs officials at Wattay International Airport in Vientiane identified about 15 kilograms of dried cannabis bound for Europe in parcel mail. No suspects were named and investigations were continuing.