A North Hamgyong Province man in his 40s was arrested by the border patrol in May for attempting to smuggle drugs, Daily NK has learned.
According to a Daily NK source in the province on Tuesday, the man — identified by his surname of Kim — was arrested by border patrol troops in Onsong County in late May as he tried to sneak across the border with drugs hidden on his body.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Kim made money through drug smuggling. However, with the closure of the border, he had been struggling as his nest egg withered away without any income for three years.
“Before COVID-19, many locals here [Onsong County] made money by sneaking drugs into China,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons. “These people, who used to spend the money they made from smuggling like it was water, continued to spend money like they did prior to the pandemic, and with their nest egg hitting bottom, they are struggling like everyone else.”
Kim had been counting the days for the border to open, but when life got really tough for him this year, he tried to cross the border to move drugs to China, knowing full well he was putting his life at risk. In the end, however, he could not make it past the border guard’s vigilant patrols and was caught.
At the time of his arrest, Kim was found with 100 grams of methamphetamine. This proved he was smuggling, so the border patrol handed him to the county police. Two days later he was transferred to the provincial police.
“During questioning by the provincial police, he testified that he was trying to cross into China to sell the drugs to put food on the table,” the source said. “However, with the police charging him with illegally crossing the border on top of the drug smuggling charge, he’s expected to get more than five years of reform-through-labor.”
Meanwhile, as rumors circulate in Onsong County that Kim was arrested, the source said locals are saying things like, “Would something like this have happened if even a skilled person hadn’t been driven to the point of starvation?” and “Everyone knows that if you cross the river [into China], you could die, so he must have been in quite the fix that he tried.”
“Everyone now is suffering such extreme hardship that they can’t endure it,” the source said. “More and more people are ultimately getting locked up like Kim when they try doing something because it’s better than simply waiting around to die.”
In fact, two young people in their 30s were arrested in early May when they entered the river to cross the border. They, too, were trying to cross into China to put food on the table, the source said.
“Facing the potential for harsh punishment, people cross the border so they can survive. Despite these circumstances, the government is choosing just to frighten people rather than finding ways to help people make a living, so public discontent is gradually growing.”
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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