The company, he said, reports to a shadowy Communist Party agency called Office 39, which gathers foreign hard currency for Mr. Kim through drug trafficking, counterfeiting, arms sales and other illicit activities.
The operation was coordinated by the National Crime Squad, a unit set up in 1998 by Britain to combat international organized crime and activities like narcotics smuggling, human trafficking, counterfeiting and illegal arms dealings.
"Look at my résumé, I've got 10 years: high-security, medium, low," said Mr. Levine, 50, who was in jail until 2007 on narcotics trafficking, counterfeiting and weapons charges.
With approximate values of $320 billion, $250 billion, and $32 billion respectively, drug trafficking, counterfeiting, and human trafficking are the three most profitable criminal markets.
Today, less than 1% of the proceeds of crimes such as drug trafficking, counterfeiting, human trafficking and small arms smuggling are frozen and confiscated.
Wildlife crime is the fourth largest illegal activity in the world, after drug trafficking, counterfeiting and human trafficking, with an annual turnover of at least US$199 billion.
