Sierra Leone’s official shipping registry employs several Chinese nationals involved in North Korea’s weapons smuggling networks, authorizing them to register foreign vessels under the Sierra Leonean flag, an investigation by NK News can reveal.

The discovery highlights North Korea’s ongoing employment of trusted third parties in its attempt to camouflage illicit activities and circumvent UN restrictions designed to curtail its weapons of mass destruction program.

Under the auspices of the Sierra Leone Ministry of Transport and Aviation, the country’s shipping registry has representatives in nearly twenty countriesaround the world. Between them, agents in the Americas, Middle East, and Asia