Tokyo: Japanese custom authorities have inspected a cargo ship suspected of carrying items exported from North Korea based on a new law for the first time, sources familiar with the matter said on Saturday.
The inspection was carried out on a ship that entered the Oi Container Terminal in Tokyo on Wednesday night, after customs authorities obtained information that North Korea might have loaded internationally banned items for shipment on the vessel, the sources said.
The authorities found goods with marks showing that they were manufactured in North Korea, including aluminium and steel products, the sources said.
It is the first probe carried out under the cargo inspection law, which came into force in 2010 following a UN Security Council resolution adopted in 2009 to punish North Korea for its second nuclear test.
The law allows Japanese authorities to inspect foreign-flagged vessels suspected of carrying banned materials from or to North Korea. (Kyodo)
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