Border smugglers are making good money importing three-wheel vehicles called sambari into North Korea, but some are getting burned by intermediaries who vanish with the vehicles instead of paying for them.
The lightweight trucks have become increasingly popular as affordable alternatives to cars, which cost at least 80,000 Chinese yuan (about $11,200) compared to sambari’s 15,000 yuan ($2,100) price tag in border towns like Hyesan. By the time the vehicles reach North Korea’s interior regions, they sell for around 17,000 yuan ($2,380) after transportation and handling costs.
“Sambaris not only carry cargo but are sometimes used as alternatives to taxis,” said a Daily NK source in Ryanggang province recently. “Transportation cargo costs are about half as much as other means, and while taxis might cost 20 yuan ($2.80) for a certain distance, sambaris cost about 15 yuan ($2.10) for the same distance.”
The imported vehicles can haul between half a ton and a full ton, with steel-clad cargo boxes that are sometimes modified to carry passengers. Their versatility and low cost have created growing demand across the country, spurring more cross-border smuggling operations.
When deals go bad
The distribution system typically works through intermediaries who take vehicles from border smugglers and transport them inland for sale, paying the smugglers after completing transactions. But some middlemen are exploiting this trust-based arrangement by disappearing with the vehicles.
One Hyesan smuggler imported about 10 three-wheel vehicles this month but hasn’t been paid after handing them to an intermediary. The middleman made a 30,000 yuan ($4,200) down payment and promised to pay the balance after selling the vehicles, then went silent.
The smuggler reported the case to police and spent his own money trying to track down the intermediary, but hasn’t had any luck recovering the funds.
“The intermediary likely paid off debts using the money from the sale or spent it on his own expenses,” the source explained. “Since many intermediaries think even if they get caught, they’ll just spend a few years in jail and that will be the end of it, you won’t get your money back unless you find them quickly.”
This pattern is making smugglers increasingly nervous about their business partnerships, even as demand for the affordable vehicles continues to grow throughout North Korea.
