Police said Monday four North Korean defectors have been arrested on charges of habitually taking illegal drugs smuggled from China.

Ilsan Police Station said they have arrested four North Korean defectors and a Korean-Chinese man in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, and confiscated 90 grams of methamphetamine and 5 grams of marijuana, an amount enough for about 3,000 people to use at once.

One of the suspects, identified only by his surname Yoon, was arrested on suspicion of receiving the meth from Kang, an ethnic Korean in China, in March and July through the international parcel service and taking it more than 20 times with his defector roommate, identified only by her surname Min, police said.

At Yoon's house, police said they found 4 million won ($3,300), suspected to be money from selling illegal drugs.

The 47-year-old defector Yoon is suspected of selling 0.5 gram of methamphetamine to another defector, identified only by her family name Kim, who allegedly took it with her roommate, identified only by his surname Hwang, who also defected from the North, police added.

A 32-year-old Korean-Chinese, known only by his surname Doh, was also arrested.

"The arrested defectors said drug abuse is rampant in North Korean society to ease the suffering from starvation," a police officer said. (Yonhap)