A man in British Columbia is in police custody in Washington state, accused of acting as an intermediary in a plot of several years to pass American technology through Canada in order to bypass laws intended to limit Pakistan’s nuclear ambitions.
According to an indictment made with the US District Court of Minnesota, Mohammad Jawaid Aziz and two nameless co-conspirators have obtained thousands of dollars of prohibited equipment for the military and weapons of Pakistan programs through a series of companies before.
The court documents claim thatziz – also known as Jawaid Aziz Siddiqui – was targeted in a bite by an American government agent who acted as an employee of a minnesota company involved in the sale of mechanical devices called linear actuators.
The infiltration operation and the indictment of the indictment date back to 2019 – but the American authorities say thatziz was not arrested until March 21, while he was trying to cross British Columbia to the state of Washington, where he is currently detained while waiting for the transfer to Minnesota.
In a statement, the United States Ministry said thatziz exploited “an illicit supply network” from 2003 to March 2019 through a company based in Surrey appointed Diversified Technology, which he left his home.
“The goal of the network was to obtain products of American origin on behalf of the entities prohibited in Pakistan which were associated with air vehicle programs (missiles and unanswered air vehicles in the country,” the statement said.
“”[Aziz] And its co-conspirators worked to hide the real end users of the goods of American companies, often using companies before and transhibiting goods through third countries to escape detection. “”
Buy “double -use” goods for limited companies
Aziz is accused of conspiracy to violate the US law on emergency economic powers and the law on export control reform.
None of the allegations have been proven in court.
According to the indictment, the 67 -year -old man is a citizen of Pakistan and Canada. Its two alleged co-conspirators are Pakistani nationals linked to the International Commercial Company based in Karachi, a company would have used “to obtain American goods for prohibited entities in Pakistan”.
Documents have detailed the restrictions promulgated by the United States since Pakistan tested a nuclear apparatus in 1998 for the first time intended to keep American “double-use” goods from the hands of organizations involved in the development of nuclear weapons, missiles and drones.
A certain number of Pakistani government agencies and private laboratories have been placed on the so -called “list of entities” – including the Pakistani atomic energy commission in Islamabad.
“It was part of the way and the means of the conspiracy that the International Commercial Company would receive and deals with requests for quotes and order orders from organizations in Pakistan on the list of entities or the front companies of these organizations,” said the indictment.
“Thanks to diversified technological services, as well as other companies he has used for similar purposes, [Aziz] would approach American companies on the purchase of the goods requested by the Pakistani entities restricted through an international commercial company. “”
American prosecutors claim that the goods would be dispatched directly to Pakistan or to third countries. Aziz would also have “sometimes received the goods at his residence in Canada”.
‘They have a commercial application’
Documents include a detailed list of hundreds of thousands of dollars in Aziz items and its alleged co-conspirators are accused of purchase, including thermal conductivity units, a digital video microscope and a centrifugal pump.
The government’s bite took place in 2019 as part of what was supposed to be the purchase of around $ 5,520 in goods which would have been wanted by a company before for the National Development Complex of Pakistan.
The court documents claim thatziz contacted a company based in Minnesota to guarantee the purchase, which was to be delivered to its address in Surrey.
But without the knowledge of Aziz, an infiltration agent resumed correspondence on order, telling Aziz that the goods had been seized on the border “due to a government taking, probably customs” and noting that a possible reason was “smuggling and export contrary to the law”.
The agent asked Aziz what was the planned application of the technology and would have been informed “that they had a commercial request”.
“They canceled the order now [to] This delay, “wrote Aziz.
“Please keep the items with you once released. We can find another customer.”
The sentence for the accusations is 20 years in prison.
