The U.S. government seized an oil tanker for delivering petroleum products to North Korea in violation of U.S. sanctions and charged a Singaporean national with conspiracy to evade sanctions, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York said in an April 23 news release. Kwek Kee Seng of Singapore and the ship, the M/T Courageous, allegedly brought oil to North Korea via ship-to-ship transfers with North Korean ships and direct shipments to the North Korean port of Nampo. The transfers allegedly took place August-December 2019 when the ship stopped transmitting its location. DOJ said satellite imagery revealed the Courageous engaging in the ship-to-ship transfers of more than $1.5 million worth of oil to an OFAC-designated North Korean ship.

Chemist Xiaorong You was convicted by a federal jury in Greeneville, Tennessee, for conspiracy to commit trade secret theft, possession of stolen trade secrets, economic espionage and wire fraud, the Department of Justice announced in an April 22 press release. You, also known as Shannon You, was the principal engineer for global research at the Coca-Cola Co. and an employee at Eastman Chemical Co., where she became aware of trade secrets belonging major chemical and coating companies. The secrets were related to formulas for bisphenol-A-free coatings for the inside of beverage cans and cost around $120 million to develop. A Lansing, Michigan, resident, You stole the trade secrets to establish a new BPA-free coating company in China, receiving millions of dollars of support from the Chinese government, DOJ said.

A Philadelphia man pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Arms Export Control Act for attempting to smuggle more than $200,000 worth of firearms out of the U.S., the Department of Justice announced in an April 20 news release. Samet Doyduk agreed to ship firearms parts from the U.S. to Turkey and Georgia in violation of EPA, which prohibits the export of defense articles without first obtaining a license from the State Department. The firearms parts Doyduk attempted to ship include upper receivers, barrels and magazines for different types of Glock handguns in calibers of 9 mm, .40 caliber and .357 caliber.