NEWS
SINGAPORE CUSTOMS DUMPED NEARLY 14,000 LITRES OF WINE DESTINED FOR N. KOREA
By Susan Lewis
25-2-2021
Credit: Thomas Evans/Unsplash
Singapore dumped almost 14,000 litres of red wine destined for North Korea in a bust to stop smugglers from bringing luxury items into the DPRK, which is part of the United Nations sanction on the isolated state.
The NK News, a US-based news media specialises in North Korea, quoted an unpublished report from the UN Panel of Experts as reporting that Singaporean authorities intercepted one shipment of 13,896 litres of wine on 31 January 2020.
A Singapore court then ordered customs to “dispose” of the haul — a total of 4,632 3-litre boxes of wine and 174 cases of assorted South African juices.
NK News quoted Bong Young-shik, a research fellow at Yonsei University Institute for North Korean Studies, as saying that the incident shows how “desperate” North Korea is to obtain luxury goods.
It is reported that one of the parties named in the shipment’s paperwork was a known North Korean company whose subsidiary was found to have illegally sent three Mercedes Benz cars to the DPRK.
“These are not really very sophisticated and effective ways to subvert international sanctions,” Bong said.
The unpublished U.N. report was said to have stated that North Korea illegally imported less luxury alcohol in 2020 because of COVID-19-related restrictions. Beyond the thousands of boxes of red wine, the U.N. Panel of Experts said it was also investigating previous cases involving luxury cars.
Singapore authorities have in recent months cracked down on several cases of luxury good smuggling to North Korea.
Last June, DPRK national Li Hyon was sentenced to four weeks in jail for attempting to supply luxury goods to North Korea.
Months later, Singaporean citizen Richard Chong Hock Yen was also sentenced to three weeks in jail for smuggling nearly SGD764,000 (USD580,000) worth of luxury goods, and William Lim Cheng Hwee was sentenced to two months in jail for selling alcohol to the DPRK.
(the writer can be contacted at: info@thewinechronicle.com)
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