,
US authorities said Thursday they had busted an arms-trafficking gang, arresting six Asians who had been trying to smuggle weapons from the United States to Tamil Tiger rebels.
Singapore man Haniffa Bin Osman, 55, was the latest person to plead guilty in the investigation which saw undercover agents track the alleged arms dealers from the eastern port of Baltimore to the South Pacific US territory of Guam.
“The disruption of the supply chain of this organization should reassure the public that the US government is committed to dismantling terrorist groups worldwide,” said FBI special agent William Chase.
Four Indonesians and Osman have now pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the investigation, from conspiracy to support a terrorist organization to attempting to illegally export arms. They all face significant jail terms.
A sixth person, Sri Lankan Thirunavukarasu Varatharasa, goes on trial next month on charges of conspiracy, attempting to export arms, money laundering, and illegal possession of weapons.
“Keeping sophisticated US weapons from falling into the hands of terrorists has never been more important,” said James Dinkins, special agent for the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Baltimore.
“This three-year undercover investigation … highlights the reach and impact of international arms trafficking.”
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam are fighting for independence in Sri Lanka's northern and eastern regions. More than 60,000 people have been killed in the conflict since 1972.
The rebels have been blacklisted as a terrorist organization by the United States since 1997.
US attorney Rod Rosenstein said Osman had pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization and to money laundering.
In a statement, the Justice Department alleged that Osman conspired with two Indonesians to buy 53 military weapons, including sniper rifles, machine guns and grenade launchers as well as ammunition and night-vision devices for the Tamil Tigers.
They contacted an undercover business in Maryland to request a price list and negotiate a deal.
As the sting operation unfolded, Osman met in July with undercover FBI agents in Baltimore to discuss transferring the arms to Sri Lanka. He even provided coordinates for delivering the weapons in the Indian Ocean.
He asked about the cost of unmanned aerial vehicles, and test-fired several weapons including machine-guns and sniper rifles.
Osman told the agents that if the first order, for some 900,000 dollars of supplies, went smoothly a second one worth 15 million dollars could follow, according to a Justice Department statement.
In August some 250,000 dollars was wired from a Malaysian bank to an undercover US bank account as a down payment for the weapons' purchase.
Osman then travelled to Guam to inspect the weapons including two surface-to-air missiles, and a second down payment of 452,000 dollars was made.
Osman was joined in Guam by retired Indonesian general Erick Wotulo, 60, and they both met with undercover agents to discuss shipping the weapons to Sri Lanka. They were both arrested in September in Guam.
“We will use all available legal tools to prevent terrorism, including undercover operations targeting people who attempt to obtain military weapons in violation of American law,” added Rosenstein.
The other Indonesians charged in the case are Haji Subandi, 70; Reinhard Rusli, 34 and Helmi Soedirdja, 33. They along with Wotulo are all to be sentenced in the coming months. Osman will be sentenced in June.
