The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York has issued a press release announcing the guilty plea of Scott Stammers, for conspiring to smuggle 100 kilograms of 99% pure North Korean meth from the Philippines to New York. The press release implies, but does not directly state, that the North Korean government itself knowingly sold the meth to Chinese gangsters, who sold the drugs to Stammers. As Tan Lim explained, his criminal organization was the only one currently...

in The Chosun Ilbo. The article shows a photograph of opium being grown in North Korea and infers that the drug production is regime-directed, but it’s also possible that, consistent with recent trends, the regime simply tolerates the production and taxes it heavily. That has the advantage of giving North Korea both the income and plausible deniability, when China and other states complain about state-sponsored drug trafficking. ~   ~   ~ Update: More on North Korea’s meth smuggling here,...

Open News reports that North Korea has launched another crackdown on drugs: A source in Hyaesan, Yanggand Province reported on the 11th, January that “Kim Jong-eun has ordered the army and security forces to combine and form a task force dedicated to cracking down on the abuse of drugs in North Korea in the years “first battle. The new body began its activities on the fifth of the month.” I think they meant to say “Yaggang,” aka “Ryanggang.” Referring to...

Open News has a series of interesting reports on the rapid rise of drug use in North Korea, and a very worrisome rise in meth use in Sinuiju in particular. The government has responded with a crackdown, using specially selected Anjeonbu officers who aren’t stationed in the area long enough to “go native” and turn corrupt. North Korea’s idea of rehab is a bit severe, but there are no recidivists before firing squads. It’s worth remembering that North Koreans learned...

According to the Treasury Department, North Korea is still printing fake dollars, but no major North Korean meth and heroin shipments have been intercepted in recent years, leading it to believe that the regime is out of that business: “There is insufficient evidence to say with certainty that state-sponsored trafficking by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) has stopped entirely in 2009,” the 2010 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report released by the department said. “Nonetheless, the paucity of...

North Korea, which is now said to be awash in some of the illicit drugs it manufactures for export, chiefly to Japan, has released a Japanese man it accused of drug trafficking. A Japanese man held in North Korea since 2003 on suspicion of smuggling drugs left the country on Tuesday, North Korea’s official media reported. The man, identified as Yoshiaki Sawada, has been allowed to leave ”thanks to a humanitarian measure taken by an institution concerned” in North Korea,...