Large Quantity of North Korean Drugs Found in China

A large quantity of drugs was found last month in Dandung, Liaoning, China, which seems to be from North Korea.

The Yalu River Evening Post, a paper printed around this area, reported at the end of November that the Dandung remote regions’ border security forces confiscated 13,375 tablets of smuggled foreign drugs at the border.

The newspaper reported that four suspected drug dealers were arrested, and drugs were confiscated in the city of Tunjang in Heiroonziang located near the Russian border in early November. The paper also added that it was the largest quantity ever to be uncovered since the establishment of the border security forces.

The paper does not directly reveal the origin of the drugs but the fact that the city of Dandung sits opposite of North Korea with the Yalu River in between implies that the “border smuggling” was imported from North Korea. The suspects were citizens of Dandung.

Though the type of the drugs is not yet known, they are presumed to be either methamphetamine or heroin.

The Chinese authorities have been taking firm measures against drug dealers, giving as severe as death sentences to the culprits, as drugs from North Korea continuously crossed the borders in recent years.

The main route for the drug smuggling is through the Hamkyungbuk-do area of North Korea and the autonomous region of Yenben for ethnic Koreans in Jilin, China. Dandung City and Shinuiju of Pyunganbuk-do is another main smuggling route.

zsh75@donga.com