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Soldiers of the Ta-ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), one of the ethnic rebel groups, take position in Homain village, Nansam Township, Northern Shan State, Myanmar. EPA/NYEIN CHAN NAING ( MYANMAR OPIUM POPPY CULTIVATION )

A Buddhist nun sits by the fire to keep warm in Homain village, Nansam Township, Northern Shan State, Myanmar on Jan. 13, 2014. Myanmar's opium production in 2013 was expected to reach 870 tons, a 26-per-cent increase year-on-year, for a 13-per-cent increase in cultivated area, the United Nations said. Last year, Myanmar produced an estimated 690 tons of opium, compared with 41 tons in Laos and 3 tons in Thailand, the three significant producers in South-East Asia. Myanmar was the world's largest source of opium and its derivative heroin in the early 1990s, but is now ranked second after Afghanistan. Myanmar's northern Shan State, home to several insurgencies including the Shan State Army and United Wa State Army, accounted for 92 per cent of opium poppy cultivation this year, with the remainder located in neighbouring Kachin State, where government troops and the Kachin Independence Army have been fighting since 2011, the report said. EPA/NYEIN CHAN NAING ( MYANMAR OPIUM POPPY CULTIVATION )

A soldier of the Ta-ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), one of the ethnic rebel groups, searching for poppy fields in Loi Mel Main village, Man Tone Township, Northern Shan State, Myanmar. EPA/NYEIN CHAN NAING ( MYANMAR OPIUM POPPY CULTIVATION )

Soldiers of the Ta-ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), one of the ethnic rebel groups, in Homain village, Nansam Township, Northern Shan State, Myanmar on Jan. 13, 2014. EPA/NYEIN CHAN NAING ( MYANMAR OPIUM POPPY CULTIVATION )

A soldier of the Ta-ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), one of the ethnic rebel groups, showing a poppy plant as he destroyed a poppy field in Loi Mel Main village, Man Tone Township, Northern Shan State, Myanmar. Last year, Myanmar produced an estimated 690 tons of opium, compared with 41 tons in Laos and 3 tons in Thailand, the three significant producers in South-East Asia. Myanmar was the world's largest source of opium and its derivative heroin in the early 1990s, but is now ranked second after Afghanistan. Myanmar's northern Shan State, home to several insurgencies including the Shan State Army and United Wa State Army, accounted for 92 per cent of opium poppy cultivation this year, with the remainder located in neighbouring Kachin State, where government troops and the Kachin Independence Army have been fighting since 2011, the report said. EPA/NYEIN CHAN NAING ( MYANMAR OPIUM POPPY CULTIVATION )

An officer of the Ta-ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), one of the ethnic rebel groups, shows seized Methamphetamine pills before destroying them in Homain village, Nansam Township, Northern Shan State, Myanmar EPA/NYEIN CHAN NAING ( MYANMAR OPIUM POPPY CULTIVATION )

Soldiers of the Ta-ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), one of the ethnic rebel groups, destroy a poppy field in Loi Mel Main village, Man Tone Township, Northern Shan State, Myanmar on Jan. 16, 2014. Myanmar's opium production in 2013 was expected to reach 870 tons, a 26-per-cent increase year-on-year, for a 13-per-cent increase in cultivated area, the United Nations said. EPA/NYEIN CHAN NAING ( MYANMAR OPIUM POPPY CULTIVATION )

A soldier of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) sits by the fire in Nanparkyaing village, Mantone Township, Northern Shan State, Myanmar. Myanmar's opium production in 2013 was expected to reach 870 tons, a 26-per-cent increase year-on-year, for a 13-per-cent increase in cultivated area, the United Nations said. EPA/NYEIN CHAN NAING ( MYANMAR OPIUM POPPY CULTIVATION )

Soldiers of the Ta-ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), one of the ethnic rebel groups, destroying a poppy field in Loi Mel Main village, Man Tone Township, Northern Shan State, Myanmar on Jan. 16, 2014. EPA/NYEIN CHAN NAING ( MYANMAR OPIUM POPPY CULTIVATION )

Soldiers of the Ta-ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), one of the ethnic rebel groups, burning a pile of seized drugs in Homain village, Nansam Township, Northern Shan State, Myanmar, 12 January 2014. Myanmar's opium production in 2013 was expected to reach 870 tons, a 26-per-cent increase year-on-year, for a 13-per-cent increase in cultivated area, the United Nations said. Last year, Myanmar produced an estimated 690 tons of opium, compared with 41 tons in Laos and 3 tons in Thailand, the three significant producers in South-East Asia. Myanmar was the world's largest source of opium and its derivative heroin in the early 1990s, but is now ranked second after Afghanistan. Myanmar's northern Shan State, home to several insurgencies including the Shan State Army and United Wa State Army, accounted for 92 per cent of opium poppy cultivation this year, with the remainder located in neighbouring Kachin State, where government troops and the Kachin Independence Army have been fighting since 2011, the report said. EPA/NYEIN CHAN NAING ( MYANMAR OPIUM POPPY CULTIVATION )

Soldiers of the Ta-ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), one of the ethnic rebel groups, hold poppy plants after they destroyed a poppy field in Loi Mel Main village, Man Tone Township, Northern Shan State, Myanmar, 16 January 2014. Myanmar's opium production in 2013 was expected to reach 870 tons, a 26-per-cent increase year-on-year, for a 13-per-cent increase in cultivated area, the United Nations said. EPA/NYEIN CHAN NAING ( MYANMAR OPIUM POPPY CULTIVATION )

Nurses in uniforms of the Ta-ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) attend the 51st anniversary of Ta-ang Army Revolution Day in Homain village, Nansam Township, Northern Shan State, Myanmar, 12 January 2014. EPA/NYEIN CHAN NAING ( MYANMAR OPIUM POPPY CULTIVATION )

Soldiers of the Ta-ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), one of the ethnic rebel groups walk, in Homain village, Nansam Township, Northern Shan State, Myanmar, 13 January 2014. EPA/NYEIN CHAN NAING ( MYANMAR OPIUM POPPY CULTIVATION )

Buddhist novices and a boy look out from a monestary while soldiers from Ta-ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), one of the ethnic rebel groups, prepare in Homain village, Nansam Township, Northern Shan State, Myanmar on Jan. 13, 2014. EPA/NYEIN CHAN NAING ( MYANMAR OPIUM POPPY CULTIVATION )

Children play in the Nanparkyaing village, Mantone Township, Nothern Shan State, Myanmar on Jan. 15, 2014. Myanmar's opium production in 2013 was expected to reach 870 tons, a 26-per-cent increase year-on-year, for a 13-per-cent increase in cultivated area, the United Nations said. Last year, Myanmar produced an estimated 690 tons of opium, compared with 41 tons in Laos and 3 tons in Thailand, the three significant producers in South-East Asia. Myanmar was the world's largest source of opium and its derivative heroin in the early 1990s, but is now ranked second after Afghanistan. Myanmar's northern Shan State, home to several insurgencies including the Shan State Army and United Wa State Army, accounted for 92 per cent of opium poppy cultivation this year, with the remainder located in neighbouring Kachin State, where government troops and the Kachin Independence Army have been fighting since 2011, the report said. EPA/NYEIN CHAN NAING ( MYANMAR OPIUM POPPY CULTIVATION )

A soldier from the Ta-ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), one of the ethnic rebel groups, burning a pile of seized drugs in Homain village, Nansam Township, Northern Shan State, Myanmar on Jan. 24, 2014. Myanmar's opium production in 2013 was expected to reach 870 tons, a 26-per-cent increase year-on-year, for a 13-per-cent increase in cultivated area, the United Nations said. Last year, Myanmar produced an estimated 690 tons of opium, compared with 41 tons in Laos and 3 tons in Thailand, the three significant producers in South-East Asia. Myanmar was the world's largest source of opium and its derivative heroin in the early 1990s, but is now ranked second after Afghanistan. Myanmar's northern Shan State, home to several insurgencies including the Shan State Army and United Wa State Army, accounted for 92 per cent of opium poppy cultivation this year, with the remainder located in neighbouring Kachin State, where government troops and the Kachin Independence Army have been fighting since 2011, the report said. EPA/NYEIN CHAN NAING ( MYANMAR OPIUM POPPY CULTIVATION )

Children watch soldiers in the Loi Mel Main village, Man Tone Township, Northern Shan State, Myanmar on jan. 16, 2014. EPA/NYEIN CHAN NAING ( MYANMAR OPIUM POPPY CULTIVATION )

Shows soldiers of the Ta-ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), one of the ethnic rebel groups, gather in Homain village, Nansam Township, Northern Shan State, Myanmar. EPA/NYEIN CHAN NAING ( MYANMAR OPIUM POPPY CULTIVATION )