New | Singapore firm charged over arms smuggling to North Korea
Singapore-registered ship intercepted in the Panama Canal last year had cargo of weapons from Cuba bound for Pyongyang
Singapore said on Tuesday it had filed criminal charges against a shipping firm based in the city-state accused of helping smuggle missiles and other military hardware from Cuba to North Korea.
The foreign affairs and home affairs ministries said in a joint statement that the charges were filed against Chinpo Shipping Company and a Singapore citizen identified as Tan Hui Tin.
The statement said the Singapore Police Force had completed its investigation into the shipping firm’s involvement, clearing the way for state prosecutors to lodge the charges.
Chinpo was charged with transferring $72,000 to a company in South Africa knowing that the funds could be used to contribute to the “nuclear-related, ballistic missile-related, or other weapons of mass destruction-related programmes or activities” of North Korea.
Tan, the 50-year-old daughter of Chinpo’s chairman, was charged with withholding potential electronic evidence.
Singapore in January received information that the Singapore-registered shipping firm had been implicated in the shipment of arms from Cuba to North Korea, prompting the police to launch an investigation.
The undeclared shipment was found aboard a North Korean freighter, Chong Chon Gang, which was intercepted and searched in the Panama Canal in July last year on suspicion it was smuggling drugs.
