Dozens of people have been arrested since the start of November amid an intensified crackdown on the use of opium and other narcotics in the city of Hoeryong, North Hamgyong Province, Daily NK has learned.
Unable to eradicate drug crime despite tougher punishments, the authorities appear to have turned toward action instead.
According to a Daily NK source in North Hamgyong Province on Wednesday, the special crackdown and sweeping arrests are being led by Unified Command 82, the organization tasked with curbing “non-socialist and anti-socialist behavior.”
The authorities believe that drugs “paralyze the socialist lifestyle and ideological spirit.”
Unified Command 82 laid some intricate groundwork in the course of the crackdown, encouraging locals to snitch. At the start of November, it reportedly ordered Hoeryong’s party organizations, worker groups, city districts and neighborhood watch units to compose and send lists of members and residents who have used opium or other narcotics.
It also threatened to punish said groups “for the same charges as the criminals” if they failed to report known drug users, warning them that hiding knowledge of drug offenders represents “a direct challenge to Workers’ Party policy.”
The source said party organizations and worker groups in downtown Hoeryong have had little choice but to respond by coaxing members and local residents to write down if they have used narcotics in the past to treat illnesses or for other reasons, or if they have witnessed others doing so.
So far, 23 people have been arrested in Hoeryong alone. Most were busted through investigations of — or tips from — local residents. Of the 23, 18 were charged with using opium or other narcotics, while the other five were charged with distribution and sales.
The source said many more local residents are being questioned on related charges, so the number of people who face criminal punishments will likely grow.
As for the severity of the punishments, that remains unknown. However, since Article 208 (drug smuggling and sales) and Article 206 (illegal opium cultivation and drug manufacturing) of North Korea’s criminal code set the maximum penalty at death, violators could face serious punishments.
Meanwhile, some local residents reportedly expressed unhappiness with how cadres were excluded from the special crackdown.
“Most of the people arrested so far have been ordinary residents, while cadres seemed to have been left out this time, too,” said the source. “[The authorities] are displaying woeful behavior by menacing only ordinary people without power.”
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
