North Korean counterfeit cigarette trade faces squeeze

Stepped up U.N. sanctions against North Korea could put a crimp on an important source of foreign exchange for the secretive communist state: illicit cigarettes.Port officials in Manila and Malta have at least twice in the past two and a half years seized shipments of North Korean cigarettes that camouflaged millions of high-quality counterfeit Marlboros with packaging and markings like those prepared for legal sale in Iraq.Under a United Nations resolution adopted March 2 in response to North Korea’s latest nuclear and rocket tests, member states are required to inspect all cargo headed to and from the country to check for contraband goods.