From: Nikkei Asian Review
ANDREW SALMON, Contributing writer
North Korean cargo ship MV Jin Teng was impounded by Philippine authorities in Subic Bay in early March for its cargo to be inspected under new U.N. sanctions. © AP
SEOUL Stepped-up U.N. sanctions against North Korea could put a crimp on an important source of foreign currency for the secretive communist state: illicit cigarettes.
Port officials in Manila and Malta have at least twice in the past three years seized shipments of North Korean cigarettes that camouflaged millions of high-quality counterfeit Marlboros with packaging and markings like those prepared for legal sale in Iraq.
