Ishukone and Hyasyoda Call for Tribunal to Open Case Over Claims of NOH and CBD Smuggling

New Caldari – Ishukone and Hyasyoda have submitted findings from a year-long joint investigation into alleged smuggling by Nugoeihuvi and CBD to the Caldari Business Tribunal, calling on the Caldari intercorporate court to open a case that may lead to penalties for the accused megacorps.

Witness testimony, shipping manifests, and whistle-blowers support claims that the NOH and CBD megacorporations used extralegal means of moving goods and peoples across the border during the YC119 partial closure, avoiding restrictions which hindered other megacorporations, their subsidiaries and interstellar trading partners. The evidence largely hinges on records acquired from Amaguq Freight Solutions, a Syndicate-registered import-export company, which the Ishukone-Hysayoda report alleges served as a front for the smuggling operation.

The listed address for Amaguq Freight Solutions, on the Intaki Syndicate station orbiting MXYS-8 IV M1, is actually an Intaki takeout restaurant. Independent reporters were able to confirm the allegation of a front address, noting the restaurant appeared to specialize in deep-fried protein delicacies sold as "long-limb roe tempura".

The report's testimony from whistle-blowers includes claims that the front was a joint operation by Serpentis and Guristas smugglers, allowing them to exploit contacts on both sides of the border. This criminal arrangement, the testimony suggests, worked out so well that the pirate organizations used it to move their own goods independently of their arrangement with NOH and CBD.

The Ishukone-Hyasyoda taskforce's investigators further assert that this channel was how CBD and NOH exchanged luxury goods for high-value, low-volume raw materials directly on Federation markets without paying the significant markups incurred by competitors diverting through the Amarr Empire or using its markets as an alternative.

"I'm sure that when Kaalakiota, Lai Dai, and Sukuuvestaa voted in support of the closure, they had thought all parties would be at an equal disadvantage," said Wiyrkomi Peace Corps representative Uvas Noma, when asked to comment as she attended a security conference on New Caldari Prime. "But it appears that through just this one avenue, NOH and CBD managed to save billions. The Peace Corps is looking at additional evidence we independently gathered, which suggests there are more illegal channels to be uncovered."

Noma noted that signs of the smuggling operations have been spotted on Ishukone, Hyasyoda, and Wiyrkomi stations, and the three megacorps are in talks to merge their investigative efforts. "It's telling that CBD and NOH were two of the main holdouts when it came time to lift the restrictions," she concluded.

Further comment on the allegations was supplied by sources among outlawed organizations. In particular, Guristas pilot Panola 'Punchy' Paatama confirmed the allegations. "Hell yeah we smuggled for CBD and NOH. We smuggle for Catiz and the godlovers too – we smuggle for damn near everyone, cause we don’t discriminate, we got the best rates and the best customer service, and up yours if you think otherwise!"