-Caveat Lector-
"The device to be smuggled out is used to warn fighter pilots that their
aircraft have been illuminated by enemy radar. It is approved for export
only to Japan and Taiwan.
" 'There's no concrete evidence, but based on everything we've seen,'
said one US Customs official, 'the ultimate buyer here is Red China.' "
Two Charged in Arms Smugging Attempt
WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. Customs Service officials have charged a naturalized
U.S. citizen from Belarus and his Russian partner with attempting to purchase
and smuggle sensitive U.S.-made avionics to a customer in Russia.
The two men were arrested Thursday night in Chicago, a Customs spokesman
said.
The avionics, used to warn fighter pilots that their aircraft have been
illuminated by enemy radar, are manufactured by an American company and are
approved for export only to Japan and Taiwan.
``They (the avionics) are unique to the Japanese and Tawainese military,''
spokesman Dennis Murphy said late Friday night. ``We know these people were
trying to get them out of the United States but what they were going to do
once they got them out of the United States, at this point, is still
speculative.''
But another Customs official went a step further.
``There's no concrete evidence, but based on everything we've seen, the
Chinese government is the ultimate buyer here,'' spokesman Pat Jones told The
Washington Post.
Peter M. Leitner, a senior strategic trade adviser at the Defense Threat
Reduction Agency, said Russian buyers of avionics made specifically for Japan
and Taiwan ``suggests they've got either a Chinese or a North Korean
customer.'' Neither Japan nor Taiwan, he said, ``poses a threat to Russia.''
Customs officials identified the two men as Edward A. Batko, of Buffalo
Grove, Ill., a naturalized U.S. citizen from Belarus, and Mikhail Romanovich
Press, a Russian national in the United States on a temporary visa.
Batko was released on bail after putting up a $500,000 house he bought last
year in a cash transaction as collateral, customs officials said. Press
remained in custody.
Both men are scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va. If
convicted of violated the Arms Export Control Act, they could be fined up to
$1 million each and sentenced up to 10 years in prison.
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic
screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters
and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright
frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects
spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL
gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers;
be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and
nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
