North Korea

US Accuses North Korea of Drug Trafficking

12/6/02

The Financial Times reported Wednesday that a US military official in South Korea has accused the government of North Korea of operating a multi-million dollar illicit drug industry. While other US officials have previously hinted at such charges, the comments by the unnamed military official are the most explicit denunciation yet of alleged North Korean drug trafficking.

The Bush administration has identified North Korea as part of its "axis of evil," along with Iraq and Iran. Washington has also accused North Korea of exporting ballistic missiles and of committing human rights violations at home. In October, North Korea further angered the US when it announced it was developing nuclear weapons to protect itself from an aggressive United States.

The US military official told the Financial Times drug trafficking has become a crucial source of foreign currency for the regime in Pyongyang, with diplomats taking on the role of overseas drug dealers. "This is state-controlled drug-trafficking. The military grows the drugs and diplomats sell it overseas," said the US official.

According to the unnamed officer, the Bush administration is convinced North Korea is producing and exporting about $100 million in illicit drugs to countries such as Japan, Russia, China and Taiwan. He also said that North Korea has become the world's third leading producer of opium, behind Afghanistan and Burma, and the world's sixth largest heroin producer. North Korea also manufactures amphetamines for the black market, he added.

With North Korea's industrial economy in collapse and foreign aid cut-offs over the nuclear program, the country will increasingly rely on drugs and arms trafficking to survive, the official charged.

Source:http://stopthedrugwar.org