オーストラリアで中国人が拘束されて

　USAへ送還されるとのこと。疑惑の中心は対北朝鮮制裁破り。闇タバコの手配の容疑。

BBC Australia holds Chinese man over suspected North Korea tobacco smuggling 20 Feb 2024

　めりけん煙草を仕入れて北朝鮮の国営工場へ送り、そこで仕立て直して―ということなんでしょう。えらいカネが儲かる事業のようで、700万ドルほどは稼ぎ出していただろう、と。

「A Chinese man is being held in Australia over his alleged role in a tobacco smuggling scheme that generated $700m (£570m) for North Korea.

Jin Guanghua now awaits extradition to the US, where he faces prosecution.

He is accused of supplying tobacco to Pyongyang for roughly a decade. It is unclear whether he contests the claim.

US authorities allege the tobacco trade allowed Kim Jong Un's regime to make and sell counterfeit cigarettes to help fund its weapons programme.」

　10年そこらくらいで、ですから。…一年あたりなら、国家水準で言えば…いやあ、結構な事業ですな。

「According to US court documents, the scheme Mr Jin was allegedly involved in was run through a series of North Korean "state owned companies" and financed by its banks.

"Chinese front companies" were then used to conduct transactions through the US financial system, bypassing sanctions and bringing millions of dollars into Pyongyang, the documents say.」

　北朝鮮への制裁は近年厳しく、先にもたばこ事業で摘発がありましたな。比較的穏当な物資でもこのように追及するあたり、諸機関は真面目に仕事してるんでしょうね。