15.12.2007
A United States court sentenced an
Indonesian to more than three years in prison for attempting
to smuggle weapons to the LTTE, the U.S. Attorney's Office
said.
Haji
Subandi, 70, was sentenced to 37 months in prison, followed
by three years of supervised release by U.S. District
Judge Catherine C. Blake. It is reported that Subandi
had pleaded guilty to "conspiracy to provide material
support to a designated foreign terrorist organization,
two counts of money laundering and attempted exportation
of arms and munitions".
In accordance with the plea agreement, Subandi and three
others revealed that they had contacted an undercover
business in Maryland and sent an itemized wish list of
weapons they wanted to acquire for the Tamil Tigers. They
arranged to transfer money into an undercover bank account
to pay for the weapons. The three others were arrested
Sept. 29, 2006 in Guam after they met with undercover
agents to discuss further arms deals.
Included
in this weapons wish-list were state-of-the-art firearms,
machine guns and ammunition, surface to air missiles,
night vision goggles and other military weapons.
The
United States of America has been cracking down hard on
LTTE operatives and activists with several high-profile
arrests recorded over the past 12 months.
Courtesy
- Government Information