Arms Dealer Arrested in Plot to Kill Cartel Kingpin
By Douglas Farah
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, September 6, 2003; Page A15
A veteran British mercenary and arms trafficker who allegedly became involved in Colombia's drug war in the early 1990s was arrested this week as he tried to attend a chemical weapons safety class in Texas, U.S. officials said yesterday.
David Brian Tomkins, 63, was arrested Thursday when he arrived in Houston, where he was scheduled to attend a survival class at Fort Bliss, Tex., according to Dean Boyd, a spokesman for the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (BICE) of the Department of Homeland Security. Taking the class was a requirement to be hired by a U.S. firm involved in reconstruction efforts in Iraq.
"The arrest of this individual removed a key player from the ranks of international arms dealers," said Michael J. Garcia, the acting assistant secretary for BICE....more >
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33163-2003Sep5.html