Posted March. 04, 2002 10:02,
The U.S. Department of State warned on the 1st that suspicions are growing around North Korea for its protection over illegal drug traffic, including the incident of drug smuggling through a ship.
On its annual report of drug control, the State Department stated, “North Korea is strongly suspected of smuggling illegal drugs more than any other nations, as suspected North Korean amphetamine and heroin were repeatedly confiscated in Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea. The report of the drug traffic through North Korean ships suggests that the government might be involved.”The report pointed out an example that when the Japanese government confiscated 150 kilograms of amphetamine on a Chinese ship in January, the ship crew confessed the drug was transferred from a North Korean ship.
Japanese government once raised the possibility for the mysterious ship, which drowned after a Japanese patrol boat attacked in the East China Sea, to be a North Korean drug traffic ship.