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North Korean Diplomat Caught Smuggling 27 Kilos, Or $1.7 Million, In Gold
To some, gold is merely a tradition; to others, such as the first secretary of the North Korean embassy in the capital of Bangladesh, it is one of the easiest ways to smuggle $1.7 million. Or at least should have been on paper. Instead, what happened on Thursday night when Son Young-nam landed in Dhaka on a flight from Singapore, carrying a ridiculous amount of physical gold and hoping to get through customs without a glitch due his diplomatic status, things went downhill fast.
According to the BBC reports, Young-nam's baggage was searched and almost 27 kilos, or 59 pounds, of gold bars and ornaments were recovered.
Initially the diplomat refused to allow customs officers and police to examine his luggage. "He insisted that his bags cannot be scanned because he's carrying a red passport and he enjoys diplomatic immunity," Moinul Khan, head of Bangladesh's customs intelligence department told AFP.
Then "after more than four hours of drama, he gave in and we found gold bars and gold ornaments weighing 26.795kg (59lb), which is worth 130 million taka." Or about $1.7 million dollars.
The customs head said the diplomat was told that more than 2kg of gold could not be brought into the country. Which means that now that the gold, nearly $2 million of it, now belongs to the great Bagladeshi void, after it was confiscated and the diplomat was released under the Vienna Convention.
Bangladeshi authorities have said they plan to prosecute Mr Son.
Khan added: "It's a clear case of smuggling. We believe he would have sold the gold to a local criminal racket. He is being used as a carrier."
And while the North Korean diplomat is the clear loser in this case, it is far more likely that the gold ultimately belonged to someone far closer to Kim Jong-un, if not the "fearless leader" himself. As WSJ adds:
Sales of gold have long been an important source of funds for the North Korean regime, which has been largely cut off from the global financial system by sanctions imposed to curb its nuclear-weapons program.
Kim Kwang-Jin, a former banker for the Pyongyang regime, said North Korea could have been moving the precious metal in an effort to find buyers.
A man who answered the phone at the North Korean Embassy in Singapore and declined to give his name said he had “no idea” about the gold shipment and hadn’t heard of Mr. Son.
A police official said four North Korean diplomats came to the airport seeking Mr. Son’s release.
The problem for North Korea is that its traditional gold-smuggling routes may be about to close up, leaving the nation unable to "liquify" its gold holdings:
North Korea has previously sold gold bullion in the Singapore market, he said. But tighter restrictions imposed by the city-state on sales of precious metals, stones and other valuable items last year have made it harder. Singapore’s new rules, intended to combat money laundering and terrorism financing, require dealers to submit a report to the government for any transaction worth over about $14,000.
Gold sales help provide funds used by North Korean leaders to ensure the loyalty of senior officials by providing them with a comfortable lifestyle, according to high-level defectors. Choi Kun-Chol, a former senior North Korean official who worked at the state’s main gold-trading business, told the Journal last year that sales of gold from North Korean mines has fallen from a peak of around 10 tons in the late 1980s to around four tons in more recent years.
Unfortunately for Mr. Son, who has now made the fatal error of being caught, his fate is now assured and the diplomat will promptly be "disappeared" never to be heard from again. Because in North Korea, $1.7 million is a vast amount, in whatever denomination.
As for the winners, they are clearly the Bangladeshi customs agent: "official figures show customs officers have seized nearly 1,000kg of gold in the past 22 months, at Bangladesh's two international airports."
Incidentally, for every North Korean diplomat whose gold contraband is caught, 9 others manage to sneak through.
Gold smuggling through the Dhaka airport has risen sharply in recent months, with large quantities seized. In February, officials discovered 61 kilograms of gold in the toilet of a Bangladeshi aircraft.
But nowhere is the gold smuggling problem worse than in India, where the local government has made importing of gold virtually impossible over the past 2 years, forcing the locals to an unprecedented array of gold smuggling techniques, forcing the government to think outside of the box how to catch said smugglers. Recall:
In a sign of the times, whistleblowers who help bust illegal gold shipments can get a bigger reward in India than those who help catch cocaine and heroin smugglers.
“There has been a several-fold increase in gold smuggling this year after restrictions from the government, which has left narcotics behind.”
In June, a passenger flying from Dubai was caught at New Delhi airport with about 755 grams (1.7 lbs) of solid gold staples painted grey. Officials stopped the man because the cardboard boxes he was carrying were stapled far more than seemed necessary.
In an effort to change that, Mumbai customs offers a reward of up to 50,000 rupees per kg of bullion seized for informers in gold smuggling cases. Cocaine and heroin informers get only up to 40,000 rupees and 20,000 rupees respectively.
At least we now know where Varoufakis got his idea to pay tourists to become "wired" tax spies working for the insolvent Greek government.
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puff
and its gone...
Who would have thought...
Someone would actually have the balls try to steal some of the Pillsbury Doughboy's dough?
He'll be baked in a hot oven like a little gingerbread man...
And then Kim will bite off his head!
Can diplomatic bags be searched? I thought that was a no-no.
Yes, they can if there is credible suspicion.
This was obviously a 'sting'.
The diplomat usually gets off.
Capitalism reflects human nature .... and it's very difficult .... to breed it out .... of even the Communist breast ! Sting my ass !
I would beware of all those illegal dollars floating around in your wallet.
Why so much fuss is made over a useless relic is beyond me. Had he been smugging precious U.S. Treasuries - now THAT'S a different story.
That's the value of bitcoin, right there.
Diamonds are a smuggler's best friend....
monetas
For the last decade that's all the US has been doing. They got at least 8 Russians in US jails using sting operations.
When you read that someone was arrested in almost any country for illegal activies, they were probably approached by an undercover CIA agent offering them the illegal deal, arrested by the local police, and then extradited to the US for trial and prison.
He wouldve had none of this trouble if he owned GLD instead
Diplomatic pouches cannot be searched. Baggage can be searched, but isn't usually, since the diplomat cannot be prosecuted unless the diplomat's government voids his status.
I'm sure this diplomat will be queitly voided if he is fool enough to return to North Korea.
When they stop calling it "smuggling" and start calling it "travelling" we'll know we've made some progress.
And in other news Andrew Maguire reports via KWN that HSBC is closing all its vgold vaults. The custodian of GLD.. Tyler are you snoozing?
So Li Toe
I told the muthafucka not travel with his friend, Wei Tu Much
Ka Ching
Chump change. If that really did belong to His Tubbyness, he's more of a smallfry than I thought.
He should have worn the gold shirt instead. Much more reasonable than having bars in your suitcase.
Or up the ass.
$1.7million worth? Isn't that the same amount as was recently hijacked in the US?
Why Bangledesh? Why not next door to China? I thought the North Koreans were cozy with China? No shortage of buyers in China including the Chinese government itself. This discovery will likely create new opportunities, no doubt others will step up to plate and help out the Tubby one.
maybe they want to buy some stuff in bangladesh
maybe they want to buy some stuff in bangladesh
1.7 million maybe they wanted to buy Bangladesh?
26.8kg is closer to $1M.
by the by, if you want what seems to be insight into north korea (and certainly is beautiful writing and a thrilling story), try "the orphan master's son".
I always thought that diplomatic bags and diplomatic mail could not be searched or confiscated. Something in this story does not add up. Why didn't the North Koreans just hide it in the diplomatic mail, just like every other embassy hides everything?
Bitcoin has a few advantages over gold.
Not even a diplomatic passport saves the goldbug's ass.
Bitcoin for BORDERS, about the best use for it.
So I gotta sell my gold for bitcoin and then buy different gold on the other side?
Sounds like more aggravation, risk and cost! May as well pay the customs fees...
More importantly, why is moving Gold illegal? Was someone hurt by the transportation of metal? If Gold Is not denominated and is not considered money by governments why is moving gold illegal? Why do governments get to arbitrarily decide what is legal and what is not legal? Why is it illegal to move large sums of cash? Is it illegal to have money? Is it illegal to be wealthy? I guess you have to have permission to be rich and to move your wealth. So much for freedom.
Freedom died on 9/11 or didn't you notice?
I was just talking with some relatives earlier about how we used to be able to go all the way to the gate and watch the planes take off. Now you gotta be a passenger, and molestation is a rite of passage. And no one said a word (proverbially, of course).
There was a day when you'd walk through the gate, hand the guy your bags, climb into the plane and be served a five star meal by hot-assed stewardesses in mini-skirts. After a series of hi-jackings (usually to Cuba, though I never understood why) we had to go through minimal searches by Kawanza, usually a huge fat, black chick sitting on a stool.
One flight I had bought a cap gun for my son and threw it into my bag. At the airport I forgot I had thrown it into my carry-on bag. Kawanza scanned it and even I could see that there was an obvious gun shaped image with what lookede like ammo to the side. Kawanza didn't even blink, let my bag, and me, through without question.
[I should say that Cuba has been extraordinary, but I didn't hijack that flight.]
Good byes .... should be short and sweet .... and not public spectacles .... even in non-terrorist times ..... treat ém good at home .... while ya have them .... don't try to make up for it .... with sloppy displays .... in inappropriate places !
Remember the commercial with OJ running throug the airport, jumping turnstiles to make the flight?
We've come so far. They'd shoot that negro deader than a doornail ten feet inside the door. And get a promotion for doing it.
oldphart, back then only light skin people flew, once everyone was able to buy a seat, look what happened-
now we got the lower class and all it's benefits - smells, hyper security, did i say smells, and most dressed for
bed not travel..and look at the fat blobs taking up two seats, eating outta bag.
course first class tickets limit the above - but not much.
gray hound buses did serve a purpose, now the uppity obuma voters think they can fly like white folk..racist sure but it is what it is..diversity what is it good for ? absolutely nuthin.
right on, that's why Amerika is really at heart nowadays, a communist country. Not North korea commie, not old school russia commie. I'm talking communism-aka- equality, diversity, progress, democracy, etc, etc.
bleh. This system has enabled this for almost a hunred years. Big change, long run quite positive imo, is just ahead.
Shoot, I remember well as a 2nd grader when the Martin 404 was a shorter route commuter that we flew at times when visiting relatives. One particular day we had been sitting on the ramp longer than normal, so the pilot told the stewardess to send me up to the cockpit. He noticed me always peering that direction(so mom said, long before they closed the doors to the cockpit). I sat there as they preflighted, and when the time came I actually got to help start one of the engines and sat up front thru the initial climb to cruising altitude, and the best part? I would bet not a single soul made a stink or was worried aobut it. God I love the old radials. Thus began my facination with flight. I also remember the cabin always had a haze from the smokers, so there is one huge imporovement, but for the most part flying sucks ass anymore. We will likely never fly again, at least not commercial.
I remember too as somoene else mentioned the meals were hot and edible, and nobody had to worry about a fucking peanut allergy. It was real service, compared to the joke it is these days.
It's not illegal when it's tungsten
How about enriched uranium?
it's not illegal but you'd have to declare to customs aka pay the piper
Which means it's illegal without permission, and permission is only granted if you have some of your wealth essentially stolen from you.
I don't suppose being N. Koraean had anything to do with it. Have any American politicos been stopped from moving their wealth overseas? Haven't seen that in the news but I'm damn sure it's going on, ahead of the pitch forks they KNOW are being sharpened for their benefit.
AND, according to Greenspan, gold ain't money (in 1 of his speeches, which he later or earlier argued against himself), so WTF is the problem if you're moving metal and not money????
Interesting point. Would you be stopped if you had a million dollar painting in your carry on?
You speak the truth. It is sad that so many ZH readers seem so gleeful about the man's loss. What happened to due process and the presumption of innocense? Also sad is that I can now see the very same thing happening in the USA today? As I type American ex-pats everywhere are giving up their US citizenship in record numbers to prevent the US from doing very similar things to them. Having money that the state merely delares supsicious is now considered a crime.
Bullish.... I mean Burrish, yes?
he will be cut up into little pieces for a barbaric relic LOL
No doubt this man's family will be shot, or he will be upon returning home for a show trial in exchange for said family's safety, maybe.
All of which is incredibly sad when one thinks about this world we live in where a man cannot transport a good that harms no one without being harassed and/or extorted by a government or two.
i had all the green tips day after captain douchebag was "elected" i look on forums everyone is pumping it. Hilarious, are you are a wheeelchair drooler fella, this shit was screaming at you in 2012, im not that smart, but godamnyou act likea slow wiited knuckle draging monkey person. cmon people, im not chris lqngan but fuck son
Is it possible that N. Korea is just hoarding gold to back its currency and pull the rug from under the dollar?
Barbaric!
I told the muthafucka not to fly coach
Why they dont sell it on China?
Yes, you guessed right. He should have used bitcoin.
If any of the imbeciles here wanted to educate themselves::
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Main_Page
I heard on the TeeVee that gold is.not.affected by EMP events.
true.
also true, is that bitcoin is pretty much impossible to stop from crossing borders.
if you're trying to get around government controls (theft), bitcoin is better at that. if you're trying to buy a long term store of value, that's gold's job.
Either way, it probably has five leases on it now with contracts to dump on the Gold market late Sunday night.
He should have traded that yellow rock for sweet fiat at a cash 4 gold in America.
You mean North Korean diplomatic credentials dont' mean much in fucking Bangladesh??? Who would have thought...
Looks like Pilsbury Dough Boy picked a bad week to sell Gold.
Gold Blasts Through Stops, Analysts Look For Bargain Hunters Next Weekhttp://www.kitco.com/news/2015-03-06/Gold-Blasts-Through-Stops-Friday-An...
The magnitude of Friday’s sell off in the gold market has surprised some analysts. George Gero, vice president and precious-metals strategist with RBC Capital Markets Global Futures, said that he was expecting to see some weakness in the marketplace after the jobs number but was looking for the $1,170 level to hold.
With that level clearly broken, Gero said prices could fall back down to $1,133, creating a technical double bottom, from the November lows.
That said, I wonder if he will try to kill the Bangladeshi Customs officer who kicked that from him? World leader getting clipped by Bangladesh Customs Agent....that shit gonna sting the pride a lot.
1.7 million for 27 kg of gold makes +- 63.000 US$/kg - way more ( 68% ) than the COMEX prices. Hello anybody ?????
That's $2000 an oz.
What's a taka worth?
It's real time Communist fuck ups .... that bring out the sympathizers and apologists .... it was a sting, don't worry 9 out of 10 shipments will get through .... but, this is an especially difficult one to spin ! LOL
It was really 30 kilos. Somewhere in Bangladesh, a few customs officials are having a free party tonight!
We should all be able to travel with our own posessions unhindered by government interference and robbery. That government stole the man's property is the real crime.
To the "down arrow" above: Explain yourself. If you are able.
Exactly!
My thoughts exactly after reading this post and its comments. The really scary thing in this world, is that even on this blog, which is presumably read by people a little more appreciative of freedom and free markets and a little more intelligent than average, almost everyone, with the exception of you and one more reader, is gleefully making jokes about this guy having his money confiscated by state breaucrats, with no evidence it did not belong to hiim. Also no comments about the type of state that would have laws that would allow such theft without evidence of some underlying ill gotten gain. Should I, too, lose all my wealth just because I decided to carry it across an arbitrarily drawn state line? Would readers here, who know nothing about me, like they know nothing abou tthe Korean guy, be cheering my demise? I think it would be a waste of time to even go into the subject of presumption of innocence and due process. What happend to that? Goood grief, when even this site is driven by people with deep seeded envy and the shadenfreude or enjoyment of theft of a presumed innocent man's savings, we are doomed indeed. God save us.
Smuggling through customs at an airport? Supreme case of dumbass and epic fail...
Why is travelling with your possessions, "smuggling"?
which blend was it?
the ukrainian with lead,
or the us american with tungsteen?
The real question is whom is going to lay claim to said confiscated bullion? His he allowed to depart with said gold?
1. The question I have is why Singapore has tightened its laws on gold imports one is allowed to make. Were they not the bastion of capitalist freedom (according to Simon)?
2. Is this due to American or Chinese pressure, where both countries may not want their citizens to store gold and thus put the squeeze on the Singapore government?
3. And what's up with India getting in on the gold crackdown? No Gold BRIICS?
In the future, I'd suggest that he transport gold by sticking to 2 kg/person, i.e. bring along his wife and "12 children" (14persons x 2kg/person =28kg). Note that 2k of Au is ~ $77k.
/ Alternatively, had Warren Buffet not already cornered the market on tungsten, they could simply import/export "tungsten bars". I hear those are available in NY, going for < $1200/oz. /sarc
Gold? Something so evil it must be criminalized, no matter what!
Why is travelling and bringing one's possessions "smuggling"?
My thoughts exactly after reading this post and its comments. The really scary thing in this world, is that even on this blog, which is presumably read by people a little more appreciative of freedom and free markets and a little more intelligent than average, almost everyone, with the exception of you and one more reader, is gleefully making jokes about this guy having his money confiscated by state breaucrats, with no evidence it did not belong to hiim. Also no comments about the type of state that would have laws that would allow such theft without evidence of some underlying ill gotten gain. Should I, too, lose all my wealth just because I decided to carry it across an arbitrarily drawn state line? Would readers here, who know nothing about me, like they know nothing abou tthe Korean guy, be cheering my demise? I think it would be a waste of time to even go into the subject of presumption of innocence and due process. What happend to that? Goood grief, when even this site is driven by people with deep seeded envy and the shadenfreude or enjoyment of theft of a presumed innocent man's savings, we are doomed indeed. God save us.
Gold smuggling? Amateurs. Quatloos! Gotta be smuggling Quatloos!