Two North Korean diplomats have been caught smuggling a large stash of top-end Cuban cigars into Brazil.

The two were arrested at Campinas International Airport in São Paulo, according to the Brazilian daily O Estado.

Both are trade attaches at the North Korean Consulate there.

They had come from Cuba via Panama carrying 3,800 cigars worth W90-150 million in six travel bags (US$1=W1,133).

Cigar smuggling is apparently a common sideline for North Korean diplomats in Brazil, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela who are under growing pressure from Pyongyang to earn valuta.

Top-end Cohiba Cigars sell for W40,000-50,000 apiece, but the North Koreans can buy them for 1/10 of that money in the Cuban black market.

