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Newsbrief:
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.
[Ed: Their words, not ours!]
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.
-- END --
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Issue #266, 12/6/02
DRCNet Needs Your Help! | Editorial: Crimes and Minor Accidents | MPP Files Complaints Charging Drug Czar Violated Election Laws | Wisconsin Rave Rebellion: Racine in the Hot Seat as Hundreds Demand Trial on Bogus Bust at Electronic Music Benefit Concert | Bye, Bye, Asa: DEA Chief to Leave for Homeland Security Gig, Will Be Replaced by Career Narcocrat | The Lone Horseman: Texas Ex-Cop Hits the Trail for Marijuana Legalization | Newsbrief: This Week's Corrupt Cop Story | Newsbrief: Radical Party Anti-Prohibitionist Wins European of the Year in European Voice Magazine Online Vote | Newsbrief: Study Says Terminal Patients Don't Get Adequate Pain Treatment | Newsbrief: New Jersey Weedman Still Jailed for Thought Crime | Newsbrief: Study Says Few Medical Marijuana Users, Little Impact on Law Enforcement -- Feds, Some Cops Disagree | Newsbrief: Study Says "Gateway Theory" is Bunk | Newsbrief: US Accuses North Korea of Drug Trafficking | Newsbrief: Illinois Prosecutors Use Ecstasy Law to Charge Partiers With Murder | Newsbrief: Canadian House Panel Will Call for Cannabis Decriminalization, Newspaper Says | Newsbrief: Swiss Marijuana Potency Becomes an Issue | Newsbrief: Pennsylvania Set to Increase Ecstasy Dealing Penalties | Anniversary of Alcohol Prohibition | Action Alerts: Rave Bill, Medical Marijuana, Higher Education Act Drug Provision, Tulia, Salvia Divinorum | The Reformer's Calendar
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