Sanctions are broken. The ghost ships are moving. 🚢🛢️ We investigate the "Arms-for-Oil" trade between Russia and North Korea. We break down the investigation by the Open Source Center and OCCRP, revealing how a fleet of "Dark Tankers" shipped 1.3 million barrels of refined petroleum to Pyongyang in just nine months—more than double the UN limit.

1. The "Ghost Ship" Logistics: We analyze the mechanism. Ships turn off their AIS transponders to vanish from radar, conducting ship-to-ship transfers in the open ocean. We explain how satellite imagery exposed this "Shadow Fleet" delivering the fuel that powers North Korea's missile program in exchange for artillery shells used in Ukraine .

2. The "Beer" Shell Game: It’s not just oil; it’s money. We expose the financial plumbing. Leaked records show payments routed through obscure shell companies—some officially listed as selling "beer"—and state-affiliated banks. We discuss how these entities use USDT (Tether) and UAE financial havens to wash the money and bypass the SWIFT system .

3. The Geopolitical Deal: Why now? We explore the alliance. This isn't just smuggling; it's state policy. We discuss how the war in Ukraine forced Russia to break the 2017 UN sanctions regime it once supported, creating a new "Axis of Evasion" that renders international law unenforceable .

The full list of sources used to create this episode can be found on our Patreon under https://www.patreon.com/c/Morgrain