An anti-junta Mon ethnic resistance group has detained 42 people in a sweeping crackdown on drug trafficking aimed at curbing rampant substance abuse among local youth in southern Myanmar, officials and residents said Tuesday.

The New Mon State Party Anti-Dictatorship (NMSP-AD) launched the operations across its administrative areas, targeting major distributors and traffickers of illicit narcotics, including kratom leaves.

“The drug problem cannot simply be left as it is,” said Nai Thu Ya Htay, head of the NMSP-AD’s Northern Regional Command. “We consider it a major threat to our people, and we will continue arresting drug traffickers until they are no longer operating.” He added that traffickers will be prosecuted under regional laws, while drug users will receive education and rehabilitation support.

In recent weeks, NMSP-AD forces arrested three suspects—two men and one woman—in Htonman village and another woman in Kawtpihtaw village, both located in Mudon Township.

Residents expressed strong support for the crackdown, describing how illicit drugs have been sold openly to underage students near schools.

“The sellers don’t care whether the buyers are children or adults,” a Mudon resident said. “Children buy drugs before going to school and after school. That’s how bad things have become.”

Resistance officials accused Myanmar’s ruling military junta of deliberately allowing drug trafficking and gambling operations to flourish since the 2021 coup, alleging that regime forces collect taxes from dealers to weaken youth civic engagement and leadership in ethnic areas.