Co., Ltd., Nikkiso Co., Ltd., Klaus Union, HERMETIC-Pumpen GmbH, Sundyne, ITI Gould's Pumps, CP Pumpen AG, March Manufacturing Inc., OPTIMEX, and
Dandong Colossus & Co.
Ma Xiaohong, the head of
Dandong Hongxiang Industrial Development Co.
US Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Demers said in a statement that "through the use of more than 20 front companies, the defendants are alleged to have sought to obscure illicit financial dealings on behalf of sanctioned North Korean entities that were involved in the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction." The indictment charges Ma Xiaohong (Ma); her company,
Dandong Hongxiang Industrial Development Co.
It will cover over 5,000 miles and will include stops in Brussels, Berlin, Warsaw, Moscow, Irkutsk in Siberia, Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia, Beijing,
Dandong, also in China, and then Pyongyang.
A submarine expert working for Taiwan's military reportedly made a fact-checking trip years ago to the China-DPRK border city of
Dandong to meet the North Korean military officials, from whom the expert verified the authenticity of the bid and its capability to carry out the task.
The return trip will take around 14 hours to reach
Dandong, a city located at the China-North Korea border.
Michael Spavor, a businessman based in the Chinese city of
Dandong with connections to North Korea, was also detained.
Mr Lu said Canada was informed about the detentions, and added that the cases are being handled by local bureaus of the national intelligence agency in Beijing, where Mr Kovrig was picked up, and the north-eastern city of
Dandong, where Mr Spavor had been living.
The state security bureau in the northeastern Chinese city of
Dandong, which borders North Korea, has been investigating Spavor since Dec.
Michael Spavor, a businessman based in
Dandong near the North Korean border, had contacted Canadian officials this week to say he was being questioned.