NEW YORK, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- Five men were charged in federal court in New York with conspiracy to import nearly pure methamphetamine from North Korea to the United States.
The alleged leader of the international drug trafficking ring, former U.S. soldier Joseph Manuel Hunter, also was charged with conspiring to kill a Drug Enforcement Administration agent, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.
"These guys worked for and with Joseph Hunter in a transnational criminal organization that involved drugs, weapons, chemicals, murder and a close involvement with rogue nations," said a senior law enforcement agent, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The men allegedly agreed to sell 100 kilograms of the methamphetamine -- at $60,000 a kilogram -- to a drug trafficker, who was working with the DEA, ABC News reported.
The other four defendants were British, Chinese and Philippine nationals. All five were arrested in Phuket, Thailand, in September and were extradited to the United States Tuesday, the Post said.
The operation revealed what prosecutors believe is a larger scheme to import large quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine to the United States, ABC News said.
