DEA - Publications No. 20026: Opium Poppy Cultivation and Heroin Processing in Southeast Asia, March 2001

The source of opium is the opium poppy, Papaver somniferum, one of the few species of Papaver that produces opium. Through centuries of cultivation and breeding the poppy for its opium, a species of the plant evolved that is now known as somniferum. The genus, Papaver, is the Greek word for poppy. The species, somniferum, is Latin for sleep-inducing.

The psychological effects of opium may have been known to the ancient Sumerians (circa 4000 B.C.) whose symbol for the poppy was hul (joy) and gil (plant). The plant was known in Europe at least 4,000 years ago, as evidenced by fossil remains of poppy seed cake and poppy pods found in the Swiss lake dwellings of the Neolithic Age. Opium was probably consumed by the ancient Egyptians and was known to the Greeks as well. References to the poppy are found in Homer’s works The Iliad and The Odyssey. Hippocrates (460-357 B.C.), the Father of Medicine, recommended drinking the juice of the white poppy mixed with the seed of nettle.

The opium poppy probably reached China about the 7th century A.D. through the efforts of Arab traders who advocated its use for medicinal purposes. In Chinese literature, however, there are earlier references to its use. The noted Chinese surgeon Hua To of the Three Kingdoms (220-264 A.D.) used opium preparations and Cannabis indica for his patients to swallow before undergoing major surgery.

The beginning of widespread opium use in China has been associated by some historians with the introduction of tobacco into that country by the Dutch from Java in the 17th century. The Chinese were reported to mix opium with tobacco. The practice was adopted throughout the area and eventually resulted in increased opium smoking, both with and without tobacco.

In 1803, the German pharmacist F. W. Serturner isolated and described the principal alkaloid in opium, which he named morphium after Morpheus, the Greek god of dreams. The invention of the syringe and the discovery of other alkaloids of opium soon followed: codeine in 1832 and papaverine in 1848. By the 1850s, the medicinal use of pure alkaloids, rather than crude opium preparations, was common in Europe.

In the United States, opium preparations became widely available in the 19th century and morphine was used extensively as a painkiller for wounded soldiers during the Civil War. The inevitable result was opium addiction, contemporarily called the army disease or soldier’s disease. These opium and morphine abuse problems prompted a scientific search for potent, but nonaddictive, painkillers. In the 1870s, chemists developed an opium-based and supposedly nonaddictive substitute for morphine. The Bayer Pharmaceutical Company of Germany was the first to produce the new drug in large quantities under the brand name Heroin. This product was obtained by the acetylation of morphine. Soon thereafter studies showed heroin to have narcotic and addictive properties far exceeding those of morphine. Although heroin has been used in the United Kingdom in the treatment of the terminally ill, its medical value is a subject of intense controversy.

THE OPIUM POPPY PLANT

The opium poppy, Papaver somniferum, is an annual plant, i.e., the plant matures one time, and does not regenerate itself. New seed must be planted each season. From a small seed, it grows, flowers, and bears fruit (a pod) only once. The entire growth cycle for most varieties of this plant takes about 120 days. The tiny seeds (like the seeds on a poppy seed roll) germinate quickly in warm air and sufficient soil moisture. In less than 6 weeks, the young plant emerges from the soil, grows a set of four leaves, and resembles a small cabbage in appearance. The lobed, dentate (jagged-edged) leaves are glaucous green with a dull gray or blue tint.

Within 2 months, the plant will grow from 1 to 2 feet in height, with one primary, long, smooth stem. The upper portion of this stem is without leaves and is called the peduncle. One or more secondary stems, called tillers, may grow from the main stem of the plant. Single poppy plants in Southeast Asia often have more than one tiller.

The main stem of a fully matured Papaver somniferum ranges between 2 and 5 feet in height. The green leaves are oblong, toothed and lobed and vary between 4 to 15 inches in length at maturity. The matured leaves have no commercial value except for use as animal fodder.

As the plant grows tall, the main stem and each tiller terminate in a flower bud. During the development of the bud, the peduncle portion of the stem elongates and forms a distinctive hook that causes the bud to be turned upside down. As the flower develops, the peduncle straightens and the buds point upward. A day or two after the buds first point upward, the two outer segments of the bud, called sepals, fall away, exposing the flower petals. At first, the exposed flower blossom is crushed and crinkled, but the petals soon expand and become smooth in the sun. Poppy flowers have four petals. The petals may be single or double and are either white, pink, reddish purple, crimson red, or variegated.

Opium poppies generally flower after about 90 days of growth and continue to flower for 2 to 3 weeks. The petals eventually drop to reveal a small, round, green pod which continues to develop. These pods (also called seed pods, capsules, bulbs, or poppy heads) are either oblate, elongated, or globular and mature to about the size of a chicken egg. The oblate-shaped pods are more common in Southeast Asia.

Only the pod portion of the plant can produce opium alkaloids. The skin of the poppy pod encloses the wall of the pod ovary. The ovary wall consists of three layers: the outer, middle and inner layers. The plant’s latex (raw opium gum) is produced within the ovary wall and drains into the middle layer through a system of vessels and tubes within the pod. The cells of the middle layer secrete more than 95 percent of the plant’s opium when the pod is scored and harvested.

Farmers harvest the opium from each pod while it remains on the plant by making vertical incisions with a specially designed homemade knife. After the opium is collected, the pods are allowed to dry on the stem. Once dry, the largest and most productive pods are cut from the stem, and the seeds are removed and dried in the sun before storing for the following year’s planting. An alternative method of collecting planting seeds is to collect them from intentionally unscored pods, because scoring may diminish the quality of the seeds. Aside from being used as planting seed, poppy seed may also be pressed to produce cooking oil. Poppy seed oil may also be used in the manufacture of paints and perfumes. Poppy seed oil is straw yellow in color, odorless, and has a pleasant, almond-like taste.

OPIUM POPPY GROWING AREAS

The opium poppy thrives in temperate, warm climates with low humidity, and requires only a moderate amount of water before and during the early stages of growth.

The opium poppy plant can be grown in a variety of soils—clay, sandy loam, sandy, and sandy clay—but it grows best in a sandy loam soil. This type of soil has good moisture-retentive and nutrient-retentive properties, is easily cultivated, and has a favorable structure for root development. Clay soil types are hard and difficult to pulverize into a good soil texture. The roots of a young poppy plant cannot readily penetrate clay soils, and growth is inhibited. Sand soil, by contrast, does not retain sufficient water or nutrients for proper growth of the plant.

Excessive moisture or extremely arid conditions will affect the poppy plant’s growth adversely thus reducing the alkaloid content. Poppy plants can become waterlogged and die after a heavy rainfall in poorly drained soil. Heavy rainfall in the second and third months of growth can leach alkaloids from the plant and spoil the harvest. Dull, rainy, or cloudy weather during this growth stage may reduce both the quantity and the quality of the alkaloid content.

The major legal opium production areas in the world today are in government-regulated opium farms in India, Turkey, and Tasmania (Australia). The major illegal growing areas are in Southwest Asia (Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran) and in the highlands of Mainland Southeast Asia (Burma, Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand) —popularly known as the Golden Triangle. Opium poppy is also grown in Colombia, Mexico, and Lebanon.

Opium poppies containing small amounts of opium alkaloids were, at one time, widely grown as an ornamental plant and for seeds in the United States. The possession of this plant was declared illegal by the Opium Poppy Control Act of 1942.

The highlands of Mainland Southeast Asia, at elevations of 800 meters or more above sea level, are prime poppy-growing areas. Generally speaking, these poppy-farming areas do not require irrigation, fertilizer, or insecticides for successful opium yields. Most of the opium poppies of Southeast Asia are found in Burma, specifically in the Wa and Kokang areas which are in the northeastern quadrant of the Shan State of Burma. Laos is the second-largest illicit opium producing country in Southeast Asia and third-largest in the world behind Afghanistan and Burma. In Laos poppy is cultivated extensively in Houaphan and Xiangkhoang Provinces, in addition to the six northern provinces of Bokeo, Louangnamtha, Louangphabang, Oudomxai, Phongsali, and Xaignabouli. Poppy is also grown in many of the remote, mountainous areas of northern Thailand, particularly in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Mae Hong Son, Nan, and Tak Provinces. Successful eradication programs together with highland programs of agricultural development and crop substitution in Northern Thailand have reduced poppy cultivation to minimal levels.

Lai Chau Province, situated between China and Laos, is a major opium poppy cultivation area in Vietnam, as is Nghe An Province, in the areas bordering Laos. In China, small crops of opium poppies are cultivated by ethnic minority groups in the mountainous frontier regions of Yunnan Province, particularly along the border area with Burma’s Kokang area in the Shan State.

It is noteworthy that the dominant ethnic groups of Mainland Southeast Asia are not poppy cultivators. The Burmans and Shan of Burma, the Lao of Laos, the Thai of Thailand, the Han Chinese of Yunnan, China, and the Vietnamese of Vietnam are lowlanders and do not traditionally cultivate opium poppies. Rather, it is the ethnic minority highlander groups, such as the Wa, Pa-O, Palaung, Lahu, Lisu, Hmong, and Akha who grow poppies in the highlands of Mainland Southeast Asia.

A typical household of Mainland Southeast Asian highlanders averages between five and 10 persons, including two to five adults. Such a household of poppy farmers can cultivate and harvest about 1 acre of opium poppy per year. Most of the more fertile fields can support opium poppy cultivation for 10 years or more without fertilization or insecticides before the soil is depleted and new fields must be cleared.

FIELD SELECTION AND LAND CLEARING

In choosing a field to grow opium poppies, soil quality, access to sunlight, and acidity are critical factors, so experienced poppy farmers choose their fields carefully. In Mainland Southeast Asia, westerly orientations are typically preferred to optimize sun exposure. Most fields are on mountain slopes at elevations of 1,000 meters (3,000 feet) or more above sea level. Slope gradients of between 20 to 40 degrees are considered best for drainage of rainwater.

In Mainland Southeast Asia, virgin land is prepared by cutting and piling all brush, vines, and small trees in the field during March, at the end of the dry season. After allowing the brush to dry in the hot sun for several days, the field is set afire. This method, called slash-and-burn or swidden agriculture, is commonly practiced by dry field farmers–both highland and lowland–throughout Mainland Southeast Asia in order to ready the land for a variety of field crops, including opium poppy. The ash in the burnt fields is a natural source of nutrients for the soil.

Before the rainy season in April, thousands of highland poppy fields all over the region are set ablaze. A fog-like yellow haze hangs over the area for weeks, reducing visibility for hundreds of miles. In the mountains, the density of haze can block out the sun and sting the eyes. Nearby provincial airports are occasionally closed due to poor visibility caused by burning fields.

A typical highlander family will plant an area of 2 or 3 rai in opium poppy (2.53 rai is equivalent to 1 acre compared to the smaller size mu which is the standard land measurement used in China). In areas where drug financiers are active, larger plots are cultivated.

	sq.meters	hectare	acres	*rai*	mu
hectare	10,000	1.00	2.46	6.23	15.0
acre	4,033	0.403	1.00	2.53	6.05
rai (lai)	1,600	0.160	0.397	1.00	2.40
mu	667	0.0667	0.165	0.417	1.0

LAND PREPARATION AND CULTIVATION METHODS

Toward the end of the rainy season in August or September, highland farmers in Mainland Southeast Asia prepare fields selected for opium poppy planting. By this time, the ash resulting from the burn-off of the previous dry season has settled into the soil, providing additional nutrients, especially potash. The soil is turned with long-handled hoes after it is softened by the rains. The farmers then break up the large clumps of soil. Weeds and stones are tossed aside and the ground is leveled off.

Traditionally, most highland and upland farmers in Mainland Southeast Asia do not use fertilizer, but in recent years poppy farmers have started using both natural and chemical fertilizers to increase yields. Chicken manure, human feces, or the region’s abundant natural supply of bat droppings are often mixed into the planting soil before the poppy seed is planted. The planting is usually completed by the end of October.

The opium poppy seed can be sown several ways: broadcast or tossed by hand; or fix-dropped by hand into shallow holes dug with a dibble stick, which is used to poke holes in the soil. About 1 kilogram of opium poppy seed is needed to sow 1 acre of land. Approximately 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds) of seed are used for each hectare (equivalant to 2.46 acres). The seeds may be white, yellow, coffee-colored, gray, black, or blue. Seed color is not related to the color of the flower petals. Beans, cabbages, cotton, parsley, spinach, squash, or tobacco are usually planted with opium poppy. These crops neither help nor hinder the cultivation of the opium poppy, but are planted solely for personal consumption or as a cash crop.

In the highlands of Mainland Southeast Asia, it is also common practice to plant maize and opium poppies in the same fields each year. The maize keeps down excessive weeds and provides feed for the farmer’s pigs and ponies. It is grown from April to August. After harvesting the maize, with the stalks still standing in the fields, the ground is weeded and pulverized. Just before the end of the rainy season, in successive sowings throughout September and October, the poppy seed is broadcast among the maize stalks. These stalks protect young opium poppy plants from heavy rains.

The opium poppy plants form leaves in the first growth stage, called the cabbage or lettuce stage. After a month of growth, when the opium poppy is about a foot high, some of the weaker plants are removed (called thinning) to allow the other plants more room to grow. The optimum spacing between plants is between 20 and 40 centimeters, or about 8 to 12 plants per square meter. Some researchers in Northern Thailand have reported as many as 18 plants per square meter, but such crowding is believed to hinder plant growth.

During the first 2 months, the opium poppies may be damaged or stunted by nature because of the lack of adequate sunshine, excessive rainfall, insects, worms, hailstones, early frost, or trampling by animals. The third month of growth does not require as much care as the first 2 months. Between 3 and 4 months after planting—from late December to early February, the opium poppies are in full bloom. Mature plants range between 3 and 5 feet in height. Most opium poppy varieties in Southeast Asia produce three to five mature pods per plant.

A typical opium poppy field has 250,000 poppy plants per hectare, with a range of 300,000 to 500,000 opium-producing pods. The actual opium yield will depend largely on weather conditions and the precautions taken by individual farmers to safeguard the crop. The farmer and his family generally move into the field for the final 2 weeks, setting up a small field hut on the edge of the opium poppy field.

COOKING OPIUM

Before opium is smoked, it is usually cooked. Uncooked opium contains moisture, vegetable matter, and other impurities which detract from a smooth-smoking product. The raw opium which is collected from the pod is placed in an open pot of boiling water where the sticky glob of opium alkaloids quickly dissolves. The soil, twigs, and plant scrapings remain undissolved. The solution is strained through cheesecloth to remove these impurities. The clear brown liquid, sometimes called liquid opium, is actually opium in solution. This liquid then is reheated over a low flame until the water turns to steam. When the water has evaporated, a thick paste remains. This paste is called prepared opium, cooked opium, or smoking opium and it is dried in the sun until it has a putty-like consistency. The net weight of the cooked opium is generally about 20 percent less than than the original raw opium.

Cooked opium is suitable for smoking or eating by opium users. Traditionally, there is only one group of opium poppy farmers, the Hmong, who often do not cook their opium before smoking. Most other ethnic groups, including Chinese opium addicts, prefer smoking cooked opium.

Opium, either raw or cooked, will not degrade, or otherwise spoil, for an indefinite period of time, as long as it remains relatively dry and cool. These are the normal conditions in the highlands of Mainland Southeast Asia. There are cases of opium being stored on a shelf for 10 years without deterioration.

If the opium is to be sold to traders for use in morphine or heroin laboratories, it is not necessary to cook it first. The laboratory operators generally use 55-gallon oil drums or huge cooking vats to cook the raw opium in water before beginning the morphine extraction process.

EXTRACTION OF MORPHINE FROM OPIUM

Raw or cooked opium contains more than 35 different alkaloids, including morphine, codeine, and thebaine. In Mainland Southeast Asia, the morphine alkaloid alone accounts for approximately 10 percent of the total weight of opium. Heroin manufacturers must first extract the morphine from the opium, before converting the morphine to heroin. The extraction is a simple process, requiring only a few chemicals and a supply of water. Morphine sometimes is extracted from opium in small clandestine laboratories, which are typically set up near the opium poppy fields. Since the morphine base is about one-tenth the weight and volume of raw opium, it is desirable to reduce the opium to morphine before transporting the product from the field to a heroin laboratory.

The process of extracting morphine from opium involves dissolving opium in boiling water, adding lime (calcium oxide), or slaked lime (calcium hydroxide), or limestone (calcium carbonate) to precipitate non-morphine alkaloids, and then pouring off the morphine in solution. Ammonium chloride is then added to the solution to precipitate morphine from the solution. The chemicals used to process opium to morphine have a number of legitimate purposes and are widely available on the open market. An empty oil drum, some cooking pots, and filter cloths or filter paper are needed.

The following is a step-by-step description of morphine extraction in a typical Mainland Southeast Asian laboratory

An empty 55-gallon oil drum is placed on bricks about a foot above the ground and a fire is built under the drum. Thirty gallons of water are added to the drum and brought to a boil. Ten to 15 kilograms of raw opium are added to the boiling water.

With stirring, the raw opium eventually dissolves in the boiling water, while soil, leaves, twigs, and other non-soluble materials float in the solution. Most of these materials are scooped out of the clear, dark brown liquid opium solution.

Slaked lime (calcium hydroxide) or, more often, a readily available chemical fertilizer with a high content of lime, is added to the solution. Lime will convert water- insoluble morphine alkaloid into water-soluble calcium morphenate. (Other opium alkaloids do not react with lime to form water-soluble calcium salts, as does morphine.) Codeine is an opium alkaloid that is slightly water-soluble and some codeine will be carried over with the calcium morphenate in the liquid. Otherwise, for the most part, the other alkaloids will become a part of the sludge.

As the solution cools, the morphine solution is scooped from the drum and poured through a filter. Cloth rice sacks are often used as filters and can then be squeezed in a press to remove most of the solution from the wet sacks. Liquid saponated cresol (lysol) is commonly added to the solution to facilitate filtering. The morphine-rich solution is then poured into large cooking pots and reheated but, this time, not boiled.

Ammonium chloride (a powder) is added to the heated calcium morphenate solution to adjust the alkalinity to a pH of 8 to 9, and the solution is then allowed to cool. Within 1 or 2 hours, morphine base precipitates (crashes) out of the solution and settles to the bottom of the cooking pot.

The solution is then poured off through cloth filters. Any solid morphine base chunks in the solution will remain on the cloth. The morphine base is removed from both the cooking pot and from the filter cloths, wrapped and squeezed in cloth, and then dried in the sun. When dry, the crude morphine base is a coffee-colored coarse powder. This form of morphine is commonly known by the Chinese term pi-tzu in Mainland Southeast Asia.

If morphine base is to be stored or transported to another location, it may be pressed into blocks. Crude morphine base is generally 50 percent to 70 percent morphine, and is an intermediate product in the heroin process. (This morphine base is generally not used by addicts.)

This crude morphine base may be further purified (and changed to morphine hydrochloride) by dissolution in hot water and hydrochloric acid, then adding activated charcoal, reheating, and filtering. The solution is filtered several times before being allowed to cool. As the solution cools, morphine hydrochloride precipitates out of the solution and settles to the bottom. The precipitate is trapped (or captured) by filtration.

If the morphine hydrochloride is to be stored or transported to another location, it may be pressed into bricks. Morphine hydrochloride (often tainted with codeine hydrochloride) is usually pressed into brick-sized blocks in a press and wrapped in paper or cloth. The most common block size is 2 inches by 4 inches by 5 inches, and weighs about 3 pounds (1.3 kilograms). It takes a full day to extract morphine from opium.

Approximately 13 kilograms of opium (from approximately one hectare of opium poppies) are needed to produce each morphine block of this size. The morphine blocks are then bundled and packed for transport to heroin laboratories by human couriers or by pack animals. Pack mules are able to carry 100-kilogram payloads over 200 miles of rugged mountain trails in less than three weeks.

CONVERSION OF MORPHINE TO HEROIN BASE

The conversion of morphine to heroin base is a relatively simple and inexpensive procedure. The necessary chemicals for conversion to heroin are commonly available as industrial chemicals. The equipment is very basic and quite portable. Heroin conversion laboratories are generally located in isolated, rural areas due to the telltale odors of the laboratory’s chemicals. Acetic anhydride, in particular, is a key chemical with a very pungent odor resembling vinegar. Thai-speakers in the Golden Triangle Area commonly refer to acetic anhydride as nam-som (vinegar).

As described in the preceding paragraphs, the chemicals used to isolate morphine from opium (known as extraction) include calcium hydroxide (slaked lime) and ammonium chloride. The precursor chemical normally used in the conversion of morphine to heroin (known as acetylation) is acetic anhydride. Chemical reagents used in the conversion process include sodium carbonate and activated charcoal. Chemical solvents needed are chloroform, ethyl alcohol (ethanol), and ethyl ether. Other chemicals may be substituted for these preferred chemicals, but most or all of these preferred chemicals are readily available from smugglers and suppliers.

Laboratory equipment includes large Chinese cooking woks, measuring cups, funnels, filter paper, litmus paper, and enamel (or stainless steel) pots. Only the most sophisticated heroin laboratories use glass flasks, propane gas ovens, vacuum pumps, autoclaves, electric blenders, venting hoods, centrifuges, reflux condensers, electric drying ovens, and elaborate exhaust systems. It is common to find portable, gasoline-powered generators at clandestine heroin conversion laboratories. Generators are used to power various electrical devices.

Heroin synthesis from morphine (either morphine base or morphine hydrochloride) is a two-step process that requires between 4 and 6 hours to complete. Heroin base is the intermediate product. Typically, morphine hydrochloride bricks are pulverized and the dried powder is then placed in an enamel pot. Acetic anhydride is added, which then reacts with the morphine to form heroin acetate. (This acetylation process will work either with morphine hydrochloride or morphine base.) The pot lid is tied or clamped on, using a damp towel for a gasket. The pot is carefully heated for about 2 hours, below boiling, at a constant temperature of 85° Celsius (185° Fahrenheit). It is never allowed to boil or to become so hot as to vent fumes into the room. The mixture is agitated by tilting and rotation until all of the morphine has dissolved. When cooking is completed, the pot is cooled and opened. During this step, morphine and the anhydride become chemically bonded, creating an impure form of diacetylmorphine (heroin).

Water is added to the thick, soupy mixture and the mixture is stirred as the heroin dissolves in the solution. Sodium carbonate (a crystalline powder) is dissolved in hot water and then added slowly to the heroin solution until effervescence stops. This precipitates heroin base, which is then filtered and dried by heating in a steam bath. For each kilogram of morphine, 685 grams to 937 grams of crude heroin base is formed, depending on the quanity of morphine.

The tan-colored heroin base (about 70 percent pure heroin) may be dried, packed, and transported to a heroin-refining laboratory, or it may be purified further before conversion to heroin hydrochloride (a water-soluble salt form of heroin) at the same site.

Mainland Southeast Asian heroin base is an intermediate product that can be further converted to either smoking heroin (heroin no. 3) or injectable heroin (heroin no. 4).

CONVERSION HEROIN BASE TO HEROIN NO. 3

To make heroin no. 3, the crude base is mixed with hydrochloric acid, resulting in heroin hydrochloride (HCl). Adulterants, including caffeine, are added after this conversion. For each kilogram of crude heroin base, about one kilogram of caffeine is used. Various flavorings such as quinine hydrochloride or strychnine hydrochloride are sometimes added to heroin no. 3. Next, the wet paste mix is stirred to dryness over a steam bath.

The resulting dry heroin no. 3 will be in the form of coarse lumps. The lumps are crushed and passed through a mesh sieve, and the grains (pieces) are then packaged for sale.

The entire process takes about 8 hours and requires only minimal skill. While extra attention to stirring is required to assure dryness, one person can prepare 1-kilogram of heroin no. 3 during this time.

CONVERSION HEROIN BASE TO HEROIN NO. 4

The reaction of morphine with acetic anhydride produces heroin acetate. To the heroin acetate mixture in the pot, water is added and mixed by stirring. A small amount of chloroform is added. The mixture is stirred and then allowed to stand for 20 minutes. Doing so dissolves highly colored impurities and a red, greasy liquid is formed at the bottom of the container. The water layer is carefully poured off and saved in a clean pot, leaving the red grease in the pot.

In a clean pot, activated charcoal is stirred into the aqueous solution and is filtered to remove solid impurities. The decolorizing effects of the charcoal, combined with the chloroform treatment, will leave a light yellow solution. The use of charcoal is repeated one or more times, until the solution is colorless.

Sodium carbonate (a crystalline powder) is dissolved in hot water and then added slowly to the heroin solution until effervescence stops. This precipitates the heroin base, which is then filtered and dried by heating on a steam bath. The heroin base is heated until dried. The powder should be very white at this stage. If not white, the base is redissolved in diluted acid, treated repeatedly with activated charcoal, re-precipitated, and dried. The ultimate purity and color of the resulting heroin HCl will depend largely on the quality of the heroin base.

The heroin base is then dissolved in ethyl ether. Conversion to the hydrochloride salt is achieved by adding hydrochloric acid in ethanol to the heroin mixture. The heroin then precipitates.

The mixture becomes nearly solid after an hour. At this point, it is filtered and the solids are collected on clean filter paper. Batches of between 5 and 10 kilograms (occasionally as much as 20 kilograms) are commonly made at one time. The paper is wrapped around the crystals and placed on wooden trays, usually over lime rock, to dry.

Heroin (quantities trafficked)
	Metric System	U.S. Equivalent
gram (gm.)	0.001 kgs	0.002 ozs
unit	0.700 kgs	1.54 lbs
kilogram (kg.)	1,000.0 gms	2.2046 lbs
ounce (oz.)	28.35 gms	0.0625 lbs
pound (lb.)	453.59 gms	16.0 ozs

When the white crystals of pure heroin HCl are dry, the powder is compressed into bricks in a hydraulic heroin press. These machine-compressed bricks, often bear a 999 logo impression on one side. Mainland Southeast Asian heroin bricks are not adulterated with any type of substance. This high-purity, odorless heroin, ranges from 85 to 95 percent purity. The standard-sized bricks, called units (700-gram) or half-units (350 grams), are then placed in plastic bags and heat-sealed, ready for sale to heroin brokers and wholesalers. Each full unit measures 5½-inches long, 4-inches wide, and 2-inches deep. A standard briefcase, measuring 14 inches by 20 inches, and 5 inches deep, can easily hold 18 units (12.6 kilograms) of Mainland Southeast Asian heroin, stacked in two layers. A standard 1.8 cubic foot microwave oven can hold approximately 42 units (29.4 kilograms) of Mainland Southeast Asian heroin.

Although highly soluble in water, heroin HCl is very stable, and can be stored in a relatively cool, dry, and dark area for an indefinite period of time.

CONCLUSIONS

The Golden Triangle Area of Mainland Southeast Asia is ideally suited for the cultivation of opium poppy. Although the poppy plant will grow remarkably well in this climate, soil, and humidity with little to no effort, farmers in this region, nonetheless, expend a considerable amount of time and effort caring for their crop. Poppy farmers typically spend 6 months of the year in their poppy fields, nurturing and safeguarding their family’s primary cash crop. In contrast, the synthesis of heroin from opium takes only a day or two. But heroin chemists or, more precisely, heroin cooks, in Mainland Southeast Asia must possess a higher level of knowledge and skills than the poppy farmers who produce the opium. In addition, the owners and operators of such heroin laboratories must provide an elaborate support system of cash, armed protection, chemicals, equipment, transportation, and access to reliable wholesale heroin buyers.

Opium Poppy Cultivation and Heroin Processing in Southeast Asia

ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE OPIUM POPPY