COLOMBO: Sri Lankan customs officials have detained two North Koreans and confiscated about US$170,000 from the North Koreans who tried to sneak the money through the country, according to a report in Yonhap News Agency.
This is the first case that a foreign government has confiscated hard cash held by North Koreans following toughened U.N. sanctions imposed on Pyongyang early last month for conducting nuclear and long-range missile tests.
In a telephone interview with Yonhap, a Sri Lankan Customs official has said on condition of anonymity that two North Koreans were caught on March 14 covertly carrying cash amounting to US$168,000 at the international airport in Colombo where they were trying to transfer to a flight for Beijing.
The North Koreans have claimed the money was wages they and their co-workers earned on a construction site in Oman.
India-based North Korean embassy has requested for the release of the two as well as the confiscated cash.
The Customs had decided to confiscate all of the money and also fine the person carrying the money-containing bag for violating the customs law that makes it mandatory for anyone to report to authorities when holding $10,000 or more in foreign currency, the source added.
