A man who tried to sell Raven parts on eBay pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court in Tampa yesterday to violating arms export and smuggling laws.
Special Operations Command at MacDill Air Force Base contacted the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in May 2010 after seeing the aircraft listed for sale for $13,000 on the Internet auction site. Through a bar code visible on one of the photographs posted on the site, SOCOM identified the vehicle as belonging to the command. At the same time the Tampa investigation began, Homeland Security agents in Los Angeles began their own independent probe.
Henderson Chua, a resident of the Philippines who was arrested when he travelled to Los Angeles in February, was indicted on March 10 on charges that he illegally engaged in a temporary import into the United States of parts for an AeroVironment RQ-11 Raven drone without the required State Department license. According to the criminal complaint filed in the case, the parts consisted of the nose cone, fuselage, and the horizontal surface of the tail assembly, but not the main wing, the entire tale assembly, the battery or the ground control equipment.
It’s important to understand that only parts were involved because a permanent import of these parts is not illegal. Aircraft and drone parts are not listed on the United States Munitions Import List. They are, however, listed in Category VIII(h) of the United States Munitions List, which means they require a State Department license for temporary (as opposed to permanent) imports, i.e., imports which will be followed by an export back out of the United States. This distinction between legal permanent imports and illegal temporary imports opens up some major holes in the government’s case.
After Mr. Chua listed the parts on eBay, a government sting was conducted with U.S. agents pretending to be buyers for the parts. Initially, the government agents seemed to think, incorrectly, that the permanent import of the parts was illegal, which would not be the case because they were not listed on the United States Munitions Import List So the agents changed the deal and told Chua that the parts were for re-export to Russia, which would have required a license both for the temporary import into the United States and for the permanent export to Russia. Chua told them that he couldn’t sell them the items for export from the United States and had the agents sign an agreement not to export the items. It would appear that the prosecution was going to have a hard time establishing that Chua had requisite criminal intent.
U.S. law only forbids export of such equipment without permission. It is possible buy any amount of Category VIII(h) military aircraft parts without a license as long as they stay here in the United States.
Chua faces up to 20 years in prison, but likely far less under federal sentencing guidelinesfor having pleaded guilty to the government’s charges.
Source: Export Law Blog, Tampa Bay Online