[Headlines Only] [Top Stories Only]
Categories
· Cross-Border/Crime
non-USA, by Country
· Sweden
· Korea - North

• Diplomats arrested for cigarette smuggling 

Jump to full article: Reuters, 2009-11-20

Intro:

Swedish police have arrested two North Korean diplomats on suspicion of smuggling 230,000 cigarettes into the Nordic country, the Swedish Customs Office said Friday.

The pair, a man and a woman who have diplomatic status in Russia, were stopped by Swedish customs officers Wednesday morning as they drove off a ferry from Helsinki, the Finnish capital.

Customs officials discovered Russian cigarettes in the car driven by the couple, Swedish Customs spokeswoman Monica Magnusson told Reuters.

The two North Koreans claimed diplomatic immunity.

"They were accredited as diplomats in Russia, but had no accreditation in Sweden," she said. "They were arrested on suspicion of smuggling."

Jump to full article »