Diplomacy and cigars: North Korea sells Cuban cigars on the black market

[El Presidente]

As long as their only selling those Hoyo Anejados....I am not concerned 

 

They certainly aren't the only ones doing it. 

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https://adncuba.com/actualidad/internacional/contrabando-de-puros-cubanos

North Korean diplomats use their profits to sell coveted Cuban cigars in Asia, especially to their wealthier neighbors in China.

Cuban cigars are among the pieces of contraband most appreciated by North Korean officials, according to an investigation by NK News , signed by journalist Ethan Jewel.

“When they're not diverting machine guns to war-torn nations or transporting sacks of cash from Tehran, North Korean diplomats smuggle tobacco products, including authentic Cuban cigars, to various Latin American countries and to China,” says Jewel.

One of the first reports implicating North Korean diplomats in the cigar trade came in 2012. Black market dealers openly told   South Korea's KBS news agency that North Korean diplomats and wealthy Chinese citizens are some of their most frequent clients.

 

After obtaining thousands of dollars worth of cigarettes on the black market, the diplomats travel from Cuba to Panama. From there, they can claim their baggage as a diplomatic bag and travel virtually anywhere in Latin America or China. Upon arrival, North Koreans transfer the cigars to outside distributors almost immediately, spending little time on site before returning to their stalls.

In some parts of Latin America, Cuban cigars fetch up to ten times their original purchase price on the black market. According to  KBS , even after accounting for travel expenses, a single trip from Cuba can bring in nearly $10,000 .

 

In a well-known incident from 2015, Brazilian authorities  detained two North Korean commercial attaches  at Viracopos International Airport for smuggling 3,800 Cuban cigars of various brands, a value authorities estimated at between $90,000 and $150,000, Jewel says.

“Everyone in the cigar business knows that the North Koreans are bringing Cuban cigars,”   a Brazilian cigar seller told KBS . "Since they always have diplomatic passports, they can bring a certain amount of goods."

Border restrictions around the world due to the pandemic appear to have hampered North Korea's smuggling operations, especially into China, where severe penalties are imposed by customs officials.

“North Korean diplomats are unlikely to stop engaging in smuggling altogether,” Jewel says, thanks in part to the Vienna Convention on Foreign Relations. This international treaty, approved in 1961, lists the protections and immunities enjoyed by foreign diplomats and missions abroad.

However, "when you're a diplomat, anything that makes money is fair game," so North Korean officials are unlikely to abandon this business entirely, he concluded.

 

 

This sounds like a job for Hans Blix 

 

 

 

 

[yossie]

Sounds much better than dealing meth, fake dollar or missiles.