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| Axis of Evil |
| The North Korean Connection? |
| 2002-12-09 |
| Japanese coast guard officials now believe that a North Korean spy ship they sank off Kagoshima's Amami Oshima Island last year was the same one used in a drug deal with Japanese gangsters in 1998. North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has admitted the ship belonged to his country's special forces. Infrastructure and Transport Minister Chikage Ogi confirmed that a mobile phone retrieved from the sunken spy ship showed several calls had been made to Japanese gangsters. There's one of those phones again. They seem to be a gold mine of information whenever they are found, but after being underwater? Now that's a commercial! Ministry officials said photograph analysis of the ship showed it was nearly identical to one that was used in a smuggling operation off Kochi in August 1988, during which members of the Sumiyoshi-kai gang planned to trade 661 pounds of drugs with a North Korean ship in the East China Sea. Court records show that a U.S. plane spotted the suspicious ship moving toward another fishing vessel operated by gang members waiting for it. The vessel under surveillance carried the Japanese name "Shojin Maru," and flew the Japanese flag. But when the aircraft tracked the vessel the next day, the name of the ship had changed to Korean characters and the Japanese flag had disappeared. Gang members who were later arrested in connection with the operation testified in court that North Korea was involved in the drug deal. North Korea needs all the hard currency they can get. I would not be suprised if they had been growing poppies instead of food in order to raise funds. |
| Posted by:Steve |