Two Named in Missile Smuggling Plot Appear in Court

[ScotTissue]

Two Named in Missile Smuggling Plot Appear in Court

NEWARK, N.J. (Reuters) - Two men captured in an international sting operation that broke up a plot to smuggle a missile capable of shooting down a commercial jetliner into the United States appeared Wednesday in federal court where authorities spelled out charges against them.

-snip-

Hemant Lakhani, identified as a British arms dealer, is accused of providing material support to terrorists and illegal weapons dealing, U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie said at the hearing in U.S. District Court in Newark, New Jersey.

The second man, Moinuddeen Ahmed Hameed, faces charges of money-laundering in connection with the plot, he said.

-snip-

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&ncid=578&e=1&u=/nm/20030813/ts_nm/security_missile_dc

[QuietStorm]

1. Hemant Lakhani

Any ties to the Carlyle Group? First thought that crosses my mind.

[DianeK]

2. i thought it strange

that we were not in code red alert...seemed if anything was to be an imminent threat, it would have been this

[QuietStorm]

3. Those terrorist alerts

have always struck me more as populace manipulation devices. You make a good point.

[htuttle]

4. It's because there was never any threat due to this

Here's how it actually went, according to more thorough news sources (ABC, CBS, etc...):

1) Undercover FBI officers approach this guy they know of as an arms dealer, and ask him to obtain SAM missiles for them.
2) Arms dealer goes to Russia, where another undercover agent, this one working for Russian police, sells him a fake missile, and suggests that he could use it to shoot down Air Force One.
3) Russian undercover officer ships fake missile to US, and arms dealer is arrested on his return.

So, there wasn't really a plot, or a threat, or anything but a criminal arms dealer willing to sell stuff he shouldn't for a buck. One shady arms dealer down, 500,000 more of them to go (give or take a few hundred thousand).