Posted on 02/25/2010 11:35:27 PM PST by ErnstStavroBlofeld
South Africa sent a report to the United Nations saying it confiscated a shipment of North Korean tank parts hidden among sacks of rice which were headed for the Republic of Congo in violation of U.N. sanctions.
In the report, obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, the South African government said the two containers are currently stored in a state-secured warehouse in Durban while its investigation continues. It estimated the value of the conventional arms at 6 million rand (about $770,000)
The shipment's final destination, according to the bill of lading, was the port of Pointe Noire in the Republic of Congo, the small oil-rich country often overshadowed by its larger neighbor, Congo. The Republic of Congo, whose capital is Brazzaville, has reportedly experienced a wave of recent violence.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in testimony Wednesday to a Senate committee that the South African seizure was another example of the effectiveness of U.N. sanctions, adding that hardly a week goes by without a report of a new seizure.
In one of the major seizures, Thai authorities, acting on a tip from the U.S., found 35 tons of weapons on an Ilyushin Il-76 cargo plane that stopped in Bangkok en route from the North Korean capital, Pyongyang on Dec. 12. Thailand and some independent arms trafficking experts say flight documents indicated the plane's cargo — listed as oil drilling equipment — was headed for the Iranian capital, Tehran.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
North Koreans are starving and they are exporting rice?
Maybe their defense could be they were trying to cheat on the rice shipment by filling the middle of the bags with weapons.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.