Posted on 05/06/2003 4:20:55 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/030505/ap/d7qrdhp01.html
Tuesday May 6, 05:34 AM
Powell: N. Korea Must Target Drug Trade
Secretary of State Colin Powell added illicit narcotics Monday to nuclear weapons and missiles as programs North Korea must end to avoid being shunned by much of the world.
Powell said North Korea's drug trafficking activities were highlighted two weeks ago when Australian sailors seized a North Korean cargo ship after it was said to have unloaded 110 pounds of heroin in southern Victoria state.
North Korea also is believed to be a major supplier to Japan of methamphetamines, a potent stimulant that has long been the illegal drug of choice for abusers in that country.
U.S. officials have referred only infrequently to North Korea's role in the illicit drug trade. Powell raised the issue while talking to reporters after a meeting with NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson.
He said North Korea will be able to count on support from other countries only if the communist-ruled country curbs nuclear weapons programs and missile exports as well other activities such as drug trafficking.
Japanese customs figures say 2,473 pounds of methamphetamines from North Korea were seized in the three-year period through 2001. That was second only to China, at 3,916 pounds.
The State Department's most recent report on narcotics trafficking worldwide said many North Korean citizens, including diplomatic employees, have been apprehended abroad while trafficking in narcotics and breaking other laws.
The report said U.S. officials have been unable to confirm reports that North Korea grows opium poppy or engages in heroin production.
Opium growing is not an state-run industry of Afghanistan, even though local Afghans do it. It is so in N. Korea.
Yes, North Korea is clearly very concerned about world opinion.
We could remove from the drug trade the exorbitant profits North Korea seeks by relegalizing drugs---but that would make too much sense.
LOL -- they've clearly crossed the line now.
And woe onto the North Koreans should they be found to be selling cigarettes to "minors."
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