Iraq Caught Smuggling Oil: UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 25 -- Iraq was caught smuggling $10 million worth of oil through an Athens-based shipping company in violation of U.N. sanctions, the United Nations said today. U.S. and U.N. officials have long suspected Iraq of siphoning between $1 billion to $2 billion in oil revenue each year. But this is the first time that the United Nations has obtained hard evidence to support those suspicions.