Warships
SIMKIN: Four nations, a flotilla of war ships and one aim -- learning how to intercept and search ships suspected of carrying illicit cargo.
17:23
Super: Senator Robert Hill
Australian defence Minister
HILL: I don't necessarily want to distinguish any country -- it sends a message
17:31
to all of those who may, for one reason or another, contemplate the transfer of weapons of mass destruction or their precursors.
17:36
Japanese coast guard
SIMKIN: Despite the diplomatic language, North Korea believes it's a nation in their sights and as these Japanese Coast Guard commandos know only too well, weapons of mass destruction are not the only source of hard currency in one of the world's most isolated regimes.
17:46
Young people dancing
If you want to find one of North Korea's most lucrative exports, you don't go to Japan's docks or department stores -- you come here, to Tokyo's Shibuya district.
18:04
This is where the city's young people flock for fun, fashion and amphetamines.
Super: Takahiko Yasuda
National Police Agency
YASUDA: Drug abuse by young Japanese people is increasing dramatically. It's a very serious situation. We've arrested more people for amphetamines in the last six months than for all of last year.
18:24
Shibuya district/ Guardian Angels on patrol
SIMKIN: Methamphetamine, or meth, is the drug of choice. Japan is Asia's biggest market for meth, with as many as two million people using it. These self-appointed Guardian Angels have been patrolling Shibuya's streets for eight years. They believe $150,000 worth of drugs change hand each night in these few city blocks. Meth, it seems, is everywhere you look, stashed by dealers who are off finding customers.
18:40
Super: Keiji Oda
Guardian Angels
ODA: It might not, statistically might not, be compared with other countries' problems, but then it's become one of the major problems for sure for the youth -- just because they don't have the guilty consciousness against illegal drugs.
19:11
Archival footage World War II Japanese soldiers
SIMKIN: Amphetamine use is nothing new. During the Second World War, the Japanese Government gave stimulants to soldiers, sailors and pilots so they could stay awake.
19:29
Rehab centre
Now the workaholic country's need for speed is greater than ever. This rehabilitation centre caters for people from all classes and all ages -- housewives who use meth to lose weight, students who take it to study. This man started using amphetamines when he was 16.
19:42
Super: Hitoshi Takahashi
Former Drug Addict
HITOSHI: Buying drugs is easier than buying cigarettes. If you have the money, you can get amphetamines easily. When I was abusing drugs, you couldn't only buy them if you knew someone who was in a criminal gang, but that's all changed.
20:00
Super: Takahiko Yasuda
National Police Agency
YASUDA: In the past five years, we've seized about 1.5 tonnes of North Korean amphetamines. That accounts for about 35 per cent of all amphetamine seizures. The North Korea drugs are very high purity. The 1.5 tonnes we intercepted would be worth about 90 billion yen - that's $1.25 billion on the street.
20:19
Suzuki
SIMKIN: North Korea has joined forces with the Yakuza - Japan's mafia. This man used to be a member of one of the crime gang and has two missing pinkies to prove it.
20:48
Suzuki shows missing fingers
HIROYUKI SUZUKI, FORMER YAKUZA: I lost this finger at age 18 because I was too slow to pick up the phone at the Yakuza office. Another time, a friend with huge debts ran away from a gambling place and I was his guarantor, so I lost part of this finger too.
21:00
SIMKIN: Suzuki-san has now found God and renounced his wicked ways, but he still knows better than most how Japans amphetamine scene operates, and says the North Koreans are wholesalers, the Yakuza retailers.
21:20
Super: Hiroyuki Suzuki
Former Yakuza
SUZUKI: There are many ways for the drugs to come into Japan. They might use fishing boats, or they sometimes hide the drugs in a buoy out at sea and then a Japanese boat comes and picks them up -- that way, the buyer and seller never have to meet.
21:36
News footage Japanese coast guard pursue North Korean boat
SIMKIN: These dramatic pictures show that there is indeed a war being waged on drugs. A North Korean drug boat exchanges gunfire with the Japanese Coast Guard. The North Korean agents eventually scuttled their boat, and went down with the ship. The boat has now been salvaged, its secrets revealed.
21:53
Super: Yoshihiko Yamada
Nippon Foundation
Yamada
YAMADA: You can see where the Coast Guard's bullets went through hull. That is North Korean underwear that had been stuffed into the hole to stop the water coming in.
22:36
Salvaged ship
SIMKIN: The ship was specially modified to be able to travel at high speeds and was able to dispatch a second smaller craft to take the drugs to shore.
22:48
Yamada
YAMADA: We know the ship was used to smuggle amphetamines. We found mobile phones on board that had been used to call well-known Yakuza mobsters. The sea around Japan is not safe. It is a fact that heavily armed ships like this one are sailing around our coastline. We must take steps to ensure our safety.
22:57
U.S. Navy drill
SIMKIN: At this stage the naval boarding drills are just that -- drills. But North Korea has still condemned them as reckless military provocations, warning they could lead to nuclear war. Australia and America are refusing to be intimidated, saying there will be more exercises in the months ahead.
23:24
Credits:
SPEED
Reporter: Mark Simkin
Producer/researcher: Yayoi Eguchi, Yumiko Asada
Camera/sound/editor: Jun Matsuzono
SIMKIN: Four nations, a flotilla of war ships and one aim -- learning how to intercept and search ships suspected of carrying illicit cargo.
17:23
Super: Senator Robert Hill
Australian defence Minister
HILL: I don't necessarily want to distinguish any country -- it sends a message
17:31
to all of those who may, for one reason or another, contemplate the transfer of weapons of mass destruction or their precursors.
17:36
Japanese coast guard
SIMKIN: Despite the diplomatic language, North Korea believes it's a nation in their sights and as these Japanese Coast Guard commandos know only too well, weapons of mass destruction are not the only source of hard currency in one of the world's most isolated regimes.
17:46
Young people dancing
If you want to find one of North Korea's most lucrative exports, you don't go to Japan's docks or department stores -- you come here, to Tokyo's Shibuya district.
18:04
This is where the city's young people flock for fun, fashion and amphetamines.
Super: Takahiko Yasuda
National Police Agency
YASUDA: Drug abuse by young Japanese people is increasing dramatically. It's a very serious situation. We've arrested more people for amphetamines in the last six months than for all of last year.
18:24
Shibuya district/ Guardian Angels on patrol
SIMKIN: Methamphetamine, or meth, is the drug of choice. Japan is Asia's biggest market for meth, with as many as two million people using it. These self-appointed Guardian Angels have been patrolling Shibuya's streets for eight years. They believe $150,000 worth of drugs change hand each night in these few city blocks. Meth, it seems, is everywhere you look, stashed by dealers who are off finding customers.
18:40
Super: Keiji Oda
Guardian Angels
ODA: It might not, statistically might not, be compared with other countries' problems, but then it's become one of the major problems for sure for the youth -- just because they don't have the guilty consciousness against illegal drugs.
19:11
Archival footage World War II Japanese soldiers
SIMKIN: Amphetamine use is nothing new. During the Second World War, the Japanese Government gave stimulants to soldiers, sailors and pilots so they could stay awake.
19:29
Rehab centre
Now the workaholic country's need for speed is greater than ever. This rehabilitation centre caters for people from all classes and all ages -- housewives who use meth to lose weight, students who take it to study. This man started using amphetamines when he was 16.
19:42
Super: Hitoshi Takahashi
Former Drug Addict
HITOSHI: Buying drugs is easier than buying cigarettes. If you have the money, you can get amphetamines easily. When I was abusing drugs, you couldn't only buy them if you knew someone who was in a criminal gang, but that's all changed.
20:00
Super: Takahiko Yasuda
National Police Agency
YASUDA: In the past five years, we've seized about 1.5 tonnes of North Korean amphetamines. That accounts for about 35 per cent of all amphetamine seizures. The North Korea drugs are very high purity. The 1.5 tonnes we intercepted would be worth about 90 billion yen - that's $1.25 billion on the street.
20:19
Suzuki
SIMKIN: North Korea has joined forces with the Yakuza - Japan's mafia. This man used to be a member of one of the crime gang and has two missing pinkies to prove it.
20:48
Suzuki shows missing fingers
HIROYUKI SUZUKI, FORMER YAKUZA: I lost this finger at age 18 because I was too slow to pick up the phone at the Yakuza office. Another time, a friend with huge debts ran away from a gambling place and I was his guarantor, so I lost part of this finger too.
21:00
SIMKIN: Suzuki-san has now found God and renounced his wicked ways, but he still knows better than most how Japans amphetamine scene operates, and says the North Koreans are wholesalers, the Yakuza retailers.
21:20
Super: Hiroyuki Suzuki
Former Yakuza
SUZUKI: There are many ways for the drugs to come into Japan. They might use fishing boats, or they sometimes hide the drugs in a buoy out at sea and then a Japanese boat comes and picks them up -- that way, the buyer and seller never have to meet.
21:36
News footage Japanese coast guard pursue North Korean boat
SIMKIN: These dramatic pictures show that there is indeed a war being waged on drugs. A North Korean drug boat exchanges gunfire with the Japanese Coast Guard. The North Korean agents eventually scuttled their boat, and went down with the ship. The boat has now been salvaged, its secrets revealed.
21:53
Super: Yoshihiko Yamada
Nippon Foundation
Yamada
YAMADA: You can see where the Coast Guard's bullets went through hull. That is North Korean underwear that had been stuffed into the hole to stop the water coming in.
22:36
Salvaged ship
SIMKIN: The ship was specially modified to be able to travel at high speeds and was able to dispatch a second smaller craft to take the drugs to shore.
22:48
Yamada
YAMADA: We know the ship was used to smuggle amphetamines. We found mobile phones on board that had been used to call well-known Yakuza mobsters. The sea around Japan is not safe. It is a fact that heavily armed ships like this one are sailing around our coastline. We must take steps to ensure our safety.
22:57
U.S. Navy drill
SIMKIN: At this stage the naval boarding drills are just that -- drills. But North Korea has still condemned them as reckless military provocations, warning they could lead to nuclear war. Australia and America are refusing to be intimidated, saying there will be more exercises in the months ahead.
23:24
Credits:
SPEED
Reporter: Mark Simkin
Producer/researcher: Yayoi Eguchi, Yumiko Asada
Camera/sound/editor: Jun Matsuzono