By . Ap Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 18:44 EST, 20 November 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 04:02 EST, 21 November 2013 . Five foreigners, including two Britons, have been charged with plotting to smuggle 100 kilograms of methamphetamine worth about $3.7million from North Korea into the U.S. The men were arrested in Thailand in September and brought to New York on Tuesday night. They were to appear in federal court in New York City on Wednesday. Britons Scott Stammers and Philip Shackels were arrested along with three men from China, Thailand and the Phillipines. Worldwide meth: The DEA made five arrests in Thailand of foreigners (one is pictured) suspected of plotting to smuggle 100 kilos of super potent meth into the U.S . They face between 10 years and a life sentence if found guilty of the charges. 'Methamphetamine is a dangerous, . potentially deadly drug, whatever its origin. 'If it ends up in our . neighborhoods, the threat it poses to public health is grave whether it . is produced in New York, elsewhere in the U.S., or in North Korea,' U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement. 'This investigation shows our determination to close a potential floodgate of supply,' he continued. According . to court papers, the suppliers sold more than 30 kilograms of North . Korean meth in 2012 that was seized by authorities in Thailand and in . the Philippines. The meth tested more than 99 per cent pure, the papers . said. In . 2013, the suppliers agreed to provide 100 kilograms to confidential . sources working with the Drug Enforcement Administration, the papers . said. Defendant Le Tiong Tan Lim, from China, allegedly bragged that the organization was the only . one able to get meth from North Korea after pressure by the U.S. prompted a government crackdown on production there. The same defendant boasted that the North Korean product was 99 per cent pure methamphetamine, or Breaking Bad level potency. Terrifyingly pure: The DEA tested the meth seized in the September arrests and announced Wednesday that it tested at an astounding 99 percent pure . Life imitating art: The North Korean Meth has been compared to the fictional--and extremely pure--'Blue Magic' meth from the series Breaking Bad . The North Korean government ‘already burned all the labs. Only our labs are not closed,’ the defendant said during a meeting with the fake buyers, according to court papers. ‘To show the Americans that they are not selling it anymore, they burned it.’ The United States in the past has accused North Korea of trafficking meth. The defendant claimed to have stockpiled one ton of meth because of the diplomatic tensions. After the meeting, the suppliers sent a sample to the United States that tested 98 per cent pure, the papers said. They agreed to deliver the drugs to Thailand, where they were to be stashed in a boat and smuggled into the United States. A pan-Asian problem: Authorities say the super meth pipeline runs from North Korea to China and beyond. But Southeast Asia is also seen as a major world producer of the drug. Here, Thai officer stand behind 2 million capsules of meth seized in 2012 . A fourth defendant Alexander Lnu is accused of organizing an armed group of bikers to act security for the shipment. The fifth man, Kelly Allan Reyes Peralta, from the Philippines, allegedly met undercover officials in January along with his co-defendants. The case demonstrates ‘the emergence of North Korea as a significant source of methamphetamine in the global drug trade,’ DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart said in a statement. Authorities in Thailand described the men as accomplices of Joseph Hunter, a former American soldier who was arrested on the same day as the others in Thailand. He pleaded not guilty in September to charges in New York that he was a contract killer. An indictment alleged that Hunter, also known as ‘Rambo,’ recruited a group of ex-snipers to be a security team for drug traffickers. U.S. prosecutors declined to discuss the connection between Hunter and the drug defendants. Read the indictment below...
Rogue state believed to produce meth with 'Breaking Bad' level potency .
Five men were arrested in Thailand and included two from UK, one from China, and two members of a Hong Kong-based organized crime group .
Accused of trying to smuggle 100 kilos of the drug, worth about $3.7m .
Five men face between 10 years and life if convicted of charges .
Manhattan-based attorneys said they hoped the arrests would help close the 'floodgates' of meth into New York and beyond .
By . Ap Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 18:44 EST, 20 November 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 04:02 EST, 21 November 2013 . Five foreigners, including two Britons, have been charged with plotting to smuggle 100 kilograms of methamphetamine worth about $3.7million from North Korea into the U.S. The men were arrested in Thailand in September and brought to New York on Tuesday night. They were to appear in federal court in New York City on Wednesday. Britons Scott Stammers and Philip Shackels were arrested along with three men from China, Thailand and the Phillipines. Worldwide meth: The DEA made five arrests in Thailand of foreigners (one is pictured) suspected of plotting to smuggle 100 kilos of super potent meth into the U.S . They face between 10 years and a life sentence if found guilty of the charges. 'Methamphetamine is a dangerous, . potentially deadly drug, whatever its origin. 'If it ends up in our . neighborhoods, the threat it poses to public health is grave whether it . is produced in New York, elsewhere in the U.S., or in North Korea,' U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement. 'This investigation shows our determination to close a potential floodgate of supply,' he continued. According . to court papers, the suppliers sold more than 30 kilograms of North . Korean meth in 2012 that was seized by authorities in Thailand and in . the Philippines. The meth tested more than 99 per cent pure, the papers . said. In . 2013, the suppliers agreed to provide 100 kilograms to confidential . sources working with the Drug Enforcement Administration, the papers . said. Defendant Le Tiong Tan Lim, from China, allegedly bragged that the organization was the only . one able to get meth from North Korea after pressure by the U.S. prompted a government crackdown on production there. The same defendant boasted that the North Korean product was 99 per cent pure methamphetamine, or Breaking Bad level potency. Terrifyingly pure: The DEA tested the meth seized in the September arrests and announced Wednesday that it tested at an astounding 99 percent pure . Life imitating art: The North Korean Meth has been compared to the fictional--and extremely pure--'Blue Magic' meth from the series Breaking Bad . The North Korean government ‘already burned all the labs. Only our labs are not closed,’ the defendant said during a meeting with the fake buyers, according to court papers. ‘To show the Americans that they are not selling it anymore, they burned it.’ The United States in the past has accused North Korea of trafficking meth. The defendant claimed to have stockpiled one ton of meth because of the diplomatic tensions. After the meeting, the suppliers sent a sample to the United States that tested 98 per cent pure, the papers said. They agreed to deliver the drugs to Thailand, where they were to be stashed in a boat and smuggled into the United States. A pan-Asian problem: Authorities say the super meth pipeline runs from North Korea to China and beyond. But Southeast Asia is also seen as a major world producer of the drug. Here, Thai officer stand behind 2 million capsules of meth seized in 2012 . A fourth defendant Alexander Lnu is accused of organizing an armed group of bikers to act security for the shipment. The fifth man, Kelly Allan Reyes Peralta, from the Philippines, allegedly met undercover officials in January along with his co-defendants. The case demonstrates ‘the emergence of North Korea as a significant source of methamphetamine in the global drug trade,’ DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart said in a statement. Authorities in Thailand described the men as accomplices of Joseph Hunter, a former American soldier who was arrested on the same day as the others in Thailand. He pleaded not guilty in September to charges in New York that he was a contract killer. An indictment alleged that Hunter, also known as ‘Rambo,’ recruited a group of ex-snipers to be a security team for drug traffickers. U.S. prosecutors declined to discuss the connection between Hunter and the drug defendants. Read the indictment below...
about $3.7million from North Korea into the U.S. The men were arrested in Thailand in September plotting to smuggle 100 kilos of super potent meth into the U.S . They face between 10 years and a life sentence if found guilty of the methamphetamine, or Breaking Bad level potency. runs from North Korea to China and beyond. But charges in New York that he was a contract