The booze bust in Rotterdam comes on the eve of Kim Jong Un's meeting with President Trump in Vietnam and is a breach of U.N. sanctions banning the export of luxury goods to the communist country.
The ship, called Nebula, had originated in Russia, had stopped in Hamburg, and was about a day away from Rotterdam, one of the world's largest ports. Paperwork pertaining to the container's circuitous route indicated its final destination was supposed to be China, but authorities, alerted by a computer program, suspected it was really meant to reach Pyongyang in North Korea, and flagged it for inspection.
"We do not want to release more information than necessary about our control strategy," Arno Kooij, director of risk management for the Customs Administration, told the paper."But what I can tell you is that, based on the information available, we suspected that this particular container was subject to the sanctions regime for North Korea."U.N.
"The United Nations Security Council has imposed clear sanctions on North Korea, and it is important to maintain them," Sigrid Kaag, minister of Foreign Trade said, adding that the agency was"entirely justified" in confiscating the vodka.
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