The North Korean police pulled off a sting that brought in more than ten people from a nationwide gang of drug dealers, Daily NK has learned.
“About a dozen dealers who have been producing and selling drugs for several years were simultaneously nabbed around the country. The Narcotics Bureau at the Ministry of Social Security oversaw the sting directly, working with provincial police bureaus to bring in the crooks. The bureau has reported this to the party as the successful apprehension of an anti-socialist and non-socialist group,” a source in North Hamgyong Province told Daily NK on Oct. 20, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
The wholesale arrest of a nationwide drug gang was rated as a major achievement, especially since it coincides with Oct. 10, a North Korean holiday that celebrates the establishment of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea.
The criminals who were brought in had been organized into a team that sourced raw materials in Hamhung, South Hamgyong Province; a team that produced the drugs in Chongjin and Rason, North Hamhung Province; and teams of dealers in each province.
“In the past, gangs would produce drugs at factories and then ship them across the border. But this gang’s approach was to stockpile a huge amount of supplies for the manufacture of drugs in Chongjin and Rasan and then peddle them across the country while also smuggling them across the border in North Hamgyong Province into China,” the source said.
“When drugs are smuggled into China, they can command a price that’s two or three times higher than in North Korea. While this gang briefly halted smuggling during the pandemic, they got back into it with a vengeance this year. When that came to light, the authorities took the issue very seriously,” the source added.
Since the gang members have committed serious narcotics offenses, they are expected to face an investigation running from six years to a year with severe punishments to follow. Anyone implicated in their crimes is also likely to be arrested and prosecuted as well.
“Since plenty of people in the party, the police, the state security forces and the military have been covering for this gang, quite a few cadres are going to be arrested,” the source predicted.
Residents of North Hamgyong Province are being fed the following story as part of a government propaganda campaign: “Hostile forces have been producing and distributing drugs in the country to increase the number of users and addicts so as to shake the foundation of the state defended by generations of Koreans and to threaten its very survival.”
This campaign suggests that North Hamgyong Province will continue to see fallout from the drug bust for some time, the source said.
Translated by David Carruth. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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