Experts Says North Korea Poised To Become Leading World Supplier of Crystal Meth

An economist and author of the new book “North Korea: The Country We Love To Hate” cautions that the country could become one of the most high-profile dealers of crystal meth in the world if it feels strangled by the United Nations sanctions and diplomatic relations fail.

Author Loretta Napoleoni, who is an expert on terrorist financing an money laundering:

“If in 2018 the economic sanctions begin to bite, as many believe they will, the best services that North Korean hackers could perform for their country is to offer access to the dark net to conduct illegal activities.”

She states that North Korea will not hesitate to manufacture and sell illegal drugs, and transactions can be conducted using cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin:

“Trade in crystal meth or methamphetamine, for example, is worth several billion dollars. It is easy to produce, and at the moment the biggest producer is situated in Myanmar, but a state actor like North Korea could easily rival such output.”

Among the reasons for voicing her concern is that North Korea has a history of producing and exporting methamphetamine. Indeed, the Chinese police seized $60 million worth of the drug in 2010, and that was thought to be just a fraction of its worldwide shipments.

And while drug trafficked funded by the state has fallen dramatically since 2004, South Korean press suggested last year that its northern counterpart may have begun producing drugs again due to increasing sanctions, such as a U.N. ban on close to 90% of petroleum exports into North Korea.

Finally, last week 20 world nations that are supporting South Korea met to consider even more sanctions to pressure North Korea into relinquishing its nuclear weapons and missile development program.

~ G. Nathalee Serrels, M.A., Psychology

References