Popular Post El Presidente Posted October 7, 2021 Popular Post Posted October 7, 2021 Great story How Cuban cigars bankroll North Korean overseas missions Slinging stogies has long been a reliable side hustle for DPRK envoys, who regularly abuse their diplomatic privileges Ethan Jewell October 4, 2021 SHARE Image: Pexels | A box of Cuban cigars On Havana’s northern edge sits the Malecón, an iconic roadway lined with pastel-colored baroque buildings on one side and an aging seawall on the other. Just a short distance away, in historic “Old Havana,” black-market cigar traders disguised as tourists busily push high-end Cubans for a fraction of store price. Among the crowds, one might even spot some unexpected customers: North Korean diplomats. While many Americans value Cuban cigars for their rich flavor and novelty as a kind of “forbidden fruit,” these cash-strapped DPRK officials see the treasured parejos as something else — namely, an opportunity ripe for smuggling. When they aren’t siphoning machine guns into war-torn nations or flying bags of cash from Tehran, North Korean diplomats have been known to smuggle tobacco products — including authentic Cuban cigars — into various Latin American countries and China. Image: Iranian soldiers pose with a PK type GPMG and a North Korean Type 73 during the Iran-Iraq War | Image: Armament Research Services “Because the [North Korean] government tasks diplomats in the economic sector with earning a certain amount of foreign currency each year, they often turn to illicit means to meet the quota,” a source familiar with how North Korea’s overseas missions operate told NK News. “After meeting the quota, they save the rest for necessities such as rent and car purchases,” the source said, explaining that lower-level diplomats receive “nothing whatsoever” from the North Korean government in terms of salary. One of the first reports implicating North Korean diplomats in the cigar trade came in 2012. Black-market traders freely told South Korea’s KBS that North Korean diplomats and wealthy Chinese nationals are some of their most frequent customers. These back-alley cigars are nothing to scoff at. As revealed in the 2012 report, the traders that North Koreans frequent even sell authentic Cohiba cigars, an iconic brand practically synonymous with Cuban revolutionary and Communist icon Fidel Castro. Now, it seems, North Korean diplomats move Castro’s favorite stogies far and wide. THE ROUTE Diplomatic status makes smuggling Cuban cigars straightforward for North Korean diplomats. After securing thousands of dollars worth of smokes on the black-market, diplomats depart Cuba for Panama, the KBS investigation found. From there, they can claim their baggage as a diplomatic parcel — a shipment with special legal protections — and travel practically anywhere in Latin America or China. Upon arrival, North Koreans transfer the cigars to third-party distributors almost immediately, spending little time away before returning to their posts. In some parts of Latin America, Cubans fetch up to ten times their original black-market purchase price. According to KBS, even after taking into account travel expenses, a single trip from Cuba can net a cigar mule nearly $10,000. In a well-known 2015 incident, Brazilian authorities detained two North Korean trade attachés at Viracopos International Airport for smuggling in 3,800 Cuban cigars of various brands — a haul authorities said was worth between $90,000 and $150,000. A stretch of the Malecon, just a short walk from Old Havana | Image: Pixabay In that case, authorities confiscated the cigars, but they were left with no choice but to let the mules walk free due to their diplomatic status. And while the exact number of cigar-smuggling diplomats is unknown, their reputation in the region suggests they’re a common sight in Havana’s back alleyways. “Everyone in the cigar business knows the North Koreans are bringing in Cubans,” a Brazilian cigar seller told KBS. “Since they always have diplomatic passports, they’re able to bring in a certain amount of goods.” THE BIGGER PICTURE Geography seems to be a deciding factor in what goods North Korean diplomats choose to smuggle. For instance, North Korean diplomats in Africa have participated in the particularly gruesome ivory and rhino horn trades. There is little hard data on how much North Korea has earned through such smuggling, including for cigars. But considering that Pyongyang can make hundreds of millions by slinging meth and missiles, cigars likely make up just a fraction of the country’s illicit operations. Moreover, as Korea Risk Group director and North Korea scholar Andrei Lankov has argued, Pyongyang seems to think smuggling and counterfeiting — even if profitable in the short term — do the regime “more harm than good” by damaging the country’s reputation abroad. For that reason, he suggested in his book “The Real North Korea” that the extent of diplomatic smuggling operations has tapered off since the early 2000s. The source familiar with North Korean diplomatic activity also said that tight border restrictions across the world due to the spread of COVID-19 seem to have stymied DPRK smuggling operations, especially in China, where “increasingly severe crackdowns” by customs officials are taking place. A broken bridge between China and North Korea along the Yalu River, June 17, 2016 | Image: NK News However, North Korean diplomats are unlikely to completely stop smuggling, thanks in part to the Vienna Convention on Foreign Relations. Passed in 1961, the international treaty enumerates the protections and immunities that foreign diplomats and overseas missions possess. Most relevant here is Article 29, which stipulates that the “person of a diplomatic agent shall be inviolable” and therefore “not liable to any form of arrest or detention.” In other words, even as the international community scrutinizes Pyongyang’s every move, long-standing international law may inadvertently provide cover to North Korea’s cigar mules. As NK New’s source put it: “When you’re a diplomat, anything that makes money is fair game.” Kylie Seoh-yun Pak contributed to this report. Edited by Bryan Betts 5
RichG Posted October 7, 2021 Posted October 7, 2021 As if the pressure of being a North Korean diplomat isn’t enough…they have to smuggle to earn a living on top of that. Day job: North Korean Diplomat Side hustle: International cigar smuggler.
El Presidente Posted October 7, 2021 Author Posted October 7, 2021 ......it's not just the North Koreans. Being a havana based diplomat (or staff) is money for jam. I wonder what % of specialties are set aside from the various Havana LCDH.
Popular Post BrightonCorgi Posted October 8, 2021 Popular Post Posted October 8, 2021 Anything that gets you out of North Korea is enough. They rest is gravy. 5
NSXCIGAR Posted October 8, 2021 Posted October 8, 2021 What the heck is going on in that first pic of the cigars? 2
RichG Posted October 8, 2021 Posted October 8, 2021 23 minutes ago, NSXCIGAR said: What the heck is going on in that first pic of the cigars? It would have been even better if it were a glass top box. If you search Cuban cigar stock photography you definitely get some interesting hits. This is one of the first hits on Google…all things considered those smokes from the article photo aren’t looking half bad in comparison. 1
mtapia3 Posted October 8, 2021 Posted October 8, 2021 No wonder I never see Cohiba or any other specialty cigars on the shelves in Havana.
Popular Post Ken Gargett Posted October 8, 2021 Popular Post Posted October 8, 2021 i have to say that this just gave me the image of little rocket man at his big desk with a glass-topped box of cohibas. 6
Ryan Posted October 8, 2021 Posted October 8, 2021 The nearest Irish embassy to Havana is in Mexico. For years I've been telling anyone who'd listen that we should have a separate embassy in Cuba. All the more reason now. I know just the person for the job. 3
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