DPRK ship free to leave Panama after paying fine
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E-mail Xinhua, February 9, 2014
A vessel of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) was free to go after its owner paid a heavy fine for trying to ship undeclared Cuban arms through the Panama Canal, the Panama Canal Authorities said Saturday.
The 693,333-U.S. dollar fine was imposed for violating navigation regulations by not reporting that the ship was transporting war material hidden beneath 10,000 tons of sugar, the authority said in a statement.
The freighter Chong Chon Gang was detained last July when it tried to cross the Panama Canal with undeclared arms from Cuba, including two anti-aircraft missile batteries, nine disassembled rockets, two MiG-21 fighter jets, and 15 MiG-21 engines.
A preliminary report, presented by UN experts and given to Panamanian authorities last August, determined the seized ship violated UN sanctions against the DPRK.
Last week, 32 of the ship's 35 crew members, all DPRK citizens, were transferred into the custody of immigration officials after prosecutors dropped charges against them. The three highest-ranking crew members, including the captain, still face trial on arms trafficking charges.
The confiscated arms will likely be sold or given away and the sugar sold to companies interested in turning it into ethanol, according to Panamanian officials.
Pyongyang is under UN sanctions against arms trafficking with other countries after it launched a long-range rocket in December 2012 and conducted its third underground nuclear test last February.
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