the Wednesday Edition

WDET in Detroit reports on the sentencing of someone trying to buy and export arms to Indonesia:

Federal authorities arrested Hadianto Djuliarso a year ago along with three other men…for conspiring to violte the Arms Export Control Act and money laundering.
The government says the men had arranged to illegally buy hundreds of handguns…machine guns…air-to-air missiles and radar equipment…with the intention of selling the equipment in Indonesia.
It remains unclear just what the weaponry was supposed to be used for.
Djuliarso has been in custody since his arrest…and will now serve three more years in prison…and must forfeit about 600-thousand dollars seized by authorities.
Federal officials say the Indonesian man will be deported as soon as he completes his s entence.

They omit any info about the man’s business partners:

U.S. Military Aircraft Parts to Indonesia- - In April 2005, ICE Detroit and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service initiated an investigation of an Indonesian-based company, Indodial, that was attempting to identify companies that would sell military aircraft parts for export to Indonesia. On June 23, 2005, undercover ICE agents met in London with Ibrahim Amran of Indodial to discuss the purchase and export of military aircraft parts to Indonesia. Amran subsequently agreed to purchase F-5 and OV-10 military aircraft parts from ICE undercover agents. On December 13, 2005, ICE undercover agents met with Amran and Amran’s business partner, Hadianto Djuliarso, in Detroit to finalize the sale and shipment of the military aircraft parts to Indonesia via Singapore. Djuliarso and Amran agreed to buy and ship the military aircraft parts without an export license to Indonesia. In addition, Amran requested price quotes from the undercover agents for Heckler & Koch MP-5 submachine guns, handguns, and sniper rifles. On April 9, 2006, following an additional undercover meeting to finalize the purchase and export of the military aircraft parts to Indonesia, ICE agents arrested Djuliarso and Amran for violations of 18 USC 371: Conspiracy to Violate the Arms Export Control Act (AECA); and 18 USC 1956: Conspiracy to Launder Money. Plea negotiations are ongoing.

Other sources indicate that the aircraft parts may have been ordered by the Indonesian Air Force and these guys tried to secure the parts surreptitiously, but it looks like the small arms and missiles were sought for other purposes.

The indictment and affidavit also allege:

# In July last year, Amran asked for quotes for prices of aircraft armaments for 245 Sidewinder missiles and 5,000 rounds of strafing ammunition. There is no mention of what action was taken on the request.

# In January, Amran received a quote of $3.3 million from a U.S. based-company for 882 submachine guns, 800 9mm handguns and 16 sniper rifles. He said he wanted to buy and export the items even if a license for those transactions could not be obtained.

# On March 31, Djuliarso and Amran sent $447,000 to a U.S. based-company as partial payments for military aircraft parts that included a radar system.

The U.S. attorney in Detroit has called the case “a serious and grave threat to our national security.” U.S. Attorney Stephen Murphy III said the individuals were “ready, willing and able to buy American weapons and take them outside the country.”

Of course, this needs to be spun properly:

NO TERROR CLAIM

Hawai’i’s U.S. Attorney Ed Kubo has said the case did not involve exporting the weapons for terrorism.

The defense statement that the aircraft parts were intended for Indonesia comes even as the United States is exploring increasing military cooperation with that country.

The New York Times last month reported that U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called for an expansion of a “strategic partnership” with Indonesia, including increased military cooperation, after the U.S. decision last year to resume military aid that had long been cut off because of Indonesia’s poor human rights record.

In a speech while in Jakarta, Rice said Indonesia had made progress in combating military corruption, the Times reported. “A reformed and effective Indonesian military is in the interest of everyone in this region, because threats to our common security have not disappeared,” she said, according to the Times.