 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Miami (AFP) March 23, 2011 Four Colombians face charges linked to an attempt to illegally export 22 F-5 fighter jet engines to Iran, the US Justice Department said Wednesday. Three of the four -- Amparo Echeverry Valdes, 53; Carlos Alfredo Pantoja, 57; and Diego Echeverry, 42 -- were arrested and are being held at a Florida detention center, prosecutors in Miami said. The fourth suspect, Felipe Echeverry, age unknown, is believed to be hiding in Colombia, the Justice Department said. The four suspects belong to the same family. A federal grand jury in Miami indicted the four "on various counts of illegally attempting to export 22 F-5 jet fighter engines to Iran," in violation of a US embargo exports to Iran. According to the indictment, Felipe Echeverry and his three relatives "conspired to sell 22 aircraft engines for $320,000 to an undercover agent and agreed to help the undercover agent to export the engines from Miami to Iran through Panama." The defendants negotiated the terms of the purported sale with an undercover US agent in meetings held between January and March, "knowing that the ultimate destination of the fighter jet engines was purportedly Iran." The sale was going to be carried out in a three-way operation via Panama, the indictment read. Iran's Islamic Republic inherited F-5 jets from the Shah of Iran's US-equipped air force when he was toppled in 1979. Currently it produces a variant of the F-5 jet fighter named "Saegeh," which can use F-5 fighter engines. If found guilty, the defendants face prison time of between five and 20 years depending on the charges and convictions. "When unscrupulous dealers look the other way and knowingly agree to sell military-use items knowing they are destined for Iran, they not only break our nation's laws, but also endanger our national security," said US Attorney Wilfredo Ferrer.
Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links The latest in Military Technology for the 21st century at SpaceWar.com
PEO Ammo Picks Up 155mm Lightweight Howitzer ProgramPicatinny Arsenal NJ (SPX) Mar 21, 2011 The Program Executive Office for Ammunition has expanded to add towed artillery systems to the growing list of products that it manages for the military. On Jan. 20, Army Acquisition Executive Malcolm O'Neill approved the immediate transfer of the Program Manager Lightweight 155 office located here from the Program Executive Office Ground Combat Systems, headquartered at Warren, Mich., to ... read more |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
YahooMyWeb
Google
Facebook
