U.S. CUSTOMS THWARTS ATTEMPT TO EXPORT MILITARY ITEMS TO PAKISTAN
The U.S. Customs Service Wednesday arrested two men in connection with a scheme to export sophisticated military equipment to Pakistan.
Tauquir Khan, a Pakistani citizen in the United States on a student visa, and Tanzeem Khan, a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Pakistan, were charged with conspiracy to violate the Arms Export Control Act. The arrests were the result of a four-month Customs probe.
According to Customs' complaint, the two men contacted BAI Aerosystems last April to buy two pan-tilt-zoom cameras and other “unmanned aerial vehicle” items for export to Pakistan. BAI Aerosystems began working on the order and applied for the export licenses.
“The sophisticated items sought by these individuals are used for battlefield surveillance and reconnaissance,” said Allan Doody, the Customs Special Agent-in-Charge in Baltimore. “Preventing illegal military exports to global hot shots is a top priority for U.S. Customs.”
When BAI Aerosystems told the two men the export license had been denied, the defendants said they still wanted the requested items, and later added that they were interested in ordering additional pan-tilt-zoom cameras.
The company contacted the Defense Security Service, which contacts U.S. Customs. Customs agents in Baltimore set up a sting operation, posing as rogue suppliers of UAV cameras. During extensive contacts with the undercover Customs agents, the two defendants allegedly conspired to transship the restricted cameras through Germany to and ultimately to the Advanced Engineering Research Organization in Pakistan.
The Customs agents received more than $25,000 from the defendants, as well as export documents that falsely indicated the cameras would be shipped to an end user in Germany.
Customs was assisted in the four-month probe by the U.S. Customs Attache in Germany and the Defense Department's Defense Security Service.