U.N. - Cuba weapons shipment to North Korea violated arms embargo

Posted on Thursday, 02.13.14

U.N.: Cuba weapons shipment to North Korea violated arms embargo
BY JUAN O. TAMAYO
JTAMAYO@ELNUEVOHERALD.COM

A shipment of Cuban weapons to North Korea last summer violated a U.N.
arms embargo on the Asian nation and showed a "comprehensive planned
strategy to conceal" the cargo, a team of U.N. sanctions investigators
have reportedly concluded.

Japan's Kyodo News International news agency reported that the secret
report submitted by the investigators to the U.N. Security Council
states that the Cuban shipment constituted "sanctions violations."

Panama authorities discovered the weapons, including anti-aircraft
missile radar systems and engines for MiG warplanes, hidden under 10,000
tons of Cuban sugar when the seized the Chong Chon Gang freighter on its
way to North Korea.

North Korea, officially named the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
(DPRK), used a string of companies for the shipment, and the freighter
turned off its locator beacon while it sailed in Caribbean waters,
according to the report.

"The employment of so many role-players in support of the trip suggests
a network of entities centrally managed working together to deflect
scrutiny in order to evade sanctions by minimizing the DPRK's visibility
in transactions," the U.N. investigators wrote.

Source: U.N.: Cuba weapons shipment to North Korea violated arms embargo
- Cuba - MiamiHerald.com -
http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/02/13/3932838/un-cuba-weapons-shipment-to-north.html