Pyongyang, North Korea
North Korea is earning more than $100 million a year by producing counterfeit cigarettes, Time Asia reported this week. An investigation by a coalition of major U.S., European, and Japanese tobacco companies has identified at least 10 factories in North Korea, some owned by the government and some owned by foreign crime syndicates that pay kickbacks to the regime of Kim Jong Il. Together, the factories produce around 40 billion counterfeit cigarettes a year, selling them as major brands, such as Marlboro and Benson & Hedges. North Korea is believed to be turning to the knockoff cigarettes for income because of international pressure on its money-laundering and drug-smuggling industries.
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