A major drugs bust in Laos this week has led to attention on Myanmar’s meth factories operating in the north of the country.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has warned that political unrest in Myanmar may be driving a surge in production of methamphetamine, as authorities in neighboring Laos carried out Asia’s largest known drug-trafficking bust.

On Wednesday, Lao police on intercepted a truck carrying more than 55 million methamphetamine pills and about 1.5 tons of crystal meth, according to photographs supplied by the UNODC in the Southeast Asian nation.

This is said to be Asia's biggest-ever single seizure of illegal drugs, a United Nations official confirmed Thursday.

The crisis hit countries of Myanmar and Afghanistan are the main hot spots for illegal narcotics production in Asia, producing drugs that are exported to regional countries and further afield, turning up on the streets of New York and London.

The crisis prompted by the 1 February military coup in Myanmar has led to speculation that drug production and trafficking may be picking up pace, with the junta authorities kept busy dealing with security issues rather than interdicting drug shipments.