Liquor worth more than $150,000 stolen

ISLAMABAD: Neighbours say when three men kicked down the doors and burgled the home of a North Korean diplomat in Islamabad last month, it took them more than three hours to lug out their booty: thousands of bottles of Scotch whisky, beer and French wine.

The robbers came prepared. Police and witnesses said they brought three cars and a small truck to plunder diplomats trove of alcoholic drinks, which is worth more than $150,000 on the black market in a country where it is illegal for Muslims to consume alcohol.

The police, who recovered much of the stash soon after the Oct 3 burglary, say that the three robbers were police officers and have issued arrest warrants for them and for a member of a well-known bootlegging family. They have also arrested diplomat’s housekeeper.

Senior police and customs officials say the discovery of such a large amount of liquor has led them to conclude that some North Korean diplomats are involved in selling alcohol either to make money for themselves or to provide funds for the cash-starved regime in Pyongyang.

"This North Korean was involved in liquor selling," said a senior police official in Islamabad who is familiar with the investigation. The officer said North Korean diplomats in Pakistan had been doing this for years, though he didn’t provide direct evidence of such sales.

"It has been discussed between the embassy and MOFA (Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs)," said the diplomat, who put the phone down before identifying himself. He did not respond to subsequent calls. 

The investigating police officer, Ishtiaq Hussain, said that the housekeeper, Boota Masih, had "confessed" to his role in the crime and had provided all the details. Masih is in custody and he could not be reached for comment. Reuters couldn’t determine if he has a lawyer.

One of the officers being sought by police, Malik Asif, told Reuters when contacted by phone that he denies being involved in the burglary. He said he is currently in hiding. He said he had no doubt that North Koreans were involved in the alcohol smuggling business. "They have been doing this business for a long time," he added.

Some foreign diplomats in Islamabad have long-held suspicions that North Korean diplomats in Pakistan are involved in bootlegging. They say they believe Pakistan has turned a blind eye to bootlegging by North Koreans.

When asked about this particular case, foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Faisal said: "Pakistan is actively investigating the case and any indiscretion, if proven, will be punished as per national and international laws.

This summer, the US embassy in Islamabad along with South Korean and Japanese counterparts lodged a complaint with Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the size of the North Korean mission in Pakistan, because they wanted to reduce its ability to raise funds for Pyongyang by reselling imported alcohol, according to diplomatic sources in Islamabad and Seoul.

The Japanese and South Koreans had been making such requests for more than a year, according to a source in Seoul. A Japanese foreign ministry source has denied knowledge of the demarche.

The source in Seoul estimates North Korea has 12-14 diplomats in Pakistan, split between Islamabad and Karachi, prompting some diplomats to wonder why Pyongyang needs so many representatives when, according to Pakistan central bank data, its official trade with Pakistan has ceased since August 2016.

The US embassy in Pakistan declined to comment. Japan’s foreign ministry declined to comment. The South Korean foreign ministry said: "Our government is closely monitoring any movement concerning illegal activities of North Korea but we cannot officially confirm this case.”

Pakistan’s foreign ministry didn’t respond to questions about the pressure it faced from other nations over the size of North Korea’s mission. Documents reviewed by Reuters, showing four separate alcohol import orders by North Korea´s embassy between March-December 2016, paint a picture of a mission importing alcoholic drinks that would be far above any reasonable personal needs of its diplomats.

During the nine-month period, the embassy imported 10,542 bottles of French Bordeaux wine through Truebell, a United Arab Emirates-based company. The four orders, billed by Truebell at $72,867, also included a total of 17,322 cans of Heineken and Carlsberg beer, as well as 646 bottles of champagne.