Comments on: 10 March 2010

By: Alec

Alec — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:17:33 +0000

Joshua, I’ve searched the archives (using “Donald Gregg”) but found nothing obvious. What timescale are we talking about? Also:

[*] Donald Gregg sounds like a garage mechanic in northern Scotland (Donnie to his friends);

[*] How long have you had this webpage if it uses a .us domain-name?;

[*] D’you have more on Robert Park? The last I’ve seen is a suggestion of his release in early February;

[*] If you follow link-backs on my blog, you’ll see someone who’s been ranted at by de Benos.

By: kushibo

kushibo — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:06:33 +0000

Oops. That comment was in the wrong place. Safari on my MacBook Pro has been all buggy since yesterday.

By: kushibo

kushibo — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:05:35 +0000

Whoops. Wrong place. Feel free to remove this.

By: Joshua Stanton

Joshua Stanton — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:51 +0000

derwoolley, You’ve helped me figure this out by adding the key piece about pricing. Actually, the exchange of black market cigarettes instead of cash turns out to be a well established way to launder proceeds of illicit activity. The overvaluation is a dead giveaway. Good comment.

Alec, Reference your very interesting posting on your blog — I actually debated former Ambassador Donald Gregg on the BAT plant in North Korea for a BBc pilot. I don’t believe the program was actually broadcast. There’s a post on it somewhere in my archives.

By: Alec

Alec — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:59:14 +0000

Kushibo, it’s Limey as well. Also, cf. Armand Hammer.

By: kushibo

kushibo — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:54:22 +0000

“Coincidence”? That was two days ago… on your blog!

I’m just kidding, though. My main purpose in pointing out my earlier point is to get someone to ask the questions I posed there and here.

Specifically: Will BAT stop selling to the North Korean market because of this? Why is an American company (in name only?) selling stuff to the DPRK in the first place?

By: Joshua Stanton

Joshua Stanton — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:49:22 +0000

Kushibo, coincidence isn’t necessarily causation.

By: kushibo

kushibo — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:43:35 +0000

Joshua wrote:

North Koreaâ€™s new scam: re-exporting cigarettes. But is this illegal?

What? No hat tip?

By: Alec

Alec — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:25:28 +0000

I suspect the “grey tobacco industry” goes on a lot, but it’s good to see BAT being caught out.

By: derwoolley

derwoolley — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:23:15 +0000

Cigarettes are sold by the “master case,” which contains 10,000. The price here, of $420/master case, is about twice what is normal, suggesting some payoff or coverup to increase the income to DPRK under the guise of ordinary trade. it is “illegal” to change these cigarettes, but only in countries (which do not include China or DPRK) which respect copyright and trademark conventions.

Rajin is a big deal. If the Chinese shipping lines (and perhaps the Russian ones too) can export containers from there to Vancouver, they stand to save 20% on fuel costs, in an industry where fuel costs are the single biggest daily expense. Of course, it may never happen, but if it does, it is a major game changer.