Major Export Enforcement Cases - Directorate of Defense Trade ...

senior scientist for Frontier Scientific, Inc., a company that makes large pure quantities of an
organic chemical, 2,2’-dipyrromethane, that has several applications, including as an ingredient in
new drugs, as well as in solar cells and batteries. The complaint alleges that Mohapatra emailed
proprietary information from Frontier Scientific about the chemical to his brother-in-law in India,
who was setting up an unregistered, competing company called Medchemblox. The complaint
further alleges that Mohapatra had a financial interest in Medchemblox. This investigation was
conducted by FBI.
Assault Rifles to Mexico – On Nov. 8, 2011, Juan Antonio Villatoro was sentenced in the
Southern District of Texas to 36 months in prison for obtaining more than $38,000 in one day to
purchase firearms to be smuggled into Mexico and for recruiting various “straw purchasers” of
firearms. His two co-defendants, Miguel Ramos-Ramos and Rafael Garza-Martinez, were each
sentenced one the same day in the Southern District of Texas to 12 months and one day in prison
for their roles in a conspiracy to smuggle four AR-15 assault rifles to Mexico. All three
defendants pleaded guilty to federal charges on Aug. 15, 2010. The investigation was conducted
by the ATF, ICE and CBP.
Stolen U.S. Military Night Vision & Optics to China and England – On Nov. 4, 2011, Phillip
Andro Jamison, a former Gunner’s Mate Petty Officer First Class in the U.S. Navy stationed
aboard Naval Amphibious Base Coronado, was sentenced to serve 30 months in prison for
violating the Arms Export Control Act. Jamison pleaded guilty on April 28, 2011. On Sept. 9,
2010, he was indicted for trafficking in stolen government property, interstate transportation of
stolen goods and exporting defense articles without a license. The indictment alleged that
Jamison, while assigned to work at his unit’s armory, stole more than 280 items from the U.S.
Navy between October 2008 and September 2009 and then sold these items to customers via
eBay, an Internet auction and shopping website. The indictment further alleged that Jameson
illegally exported to Hong Kong and England combat-grade night vision devices, riflescopes and
laser aiming devices without first obtaining the required export licenses from the State
Department. Jamison admitted stealing the items and illegally exporting some of the technology
to Hong Kong. The investigation was conducted by ICE and NCIS.
Firearms to Mexico – On Nov. 3, 2011, a grand jury in the Eastern District of California returned
an indictment charging seven individuals with federal firearms offenses relating to the trafficking
of weapons from the United States to Mexico. The indictment charges Ernesto Salgado-
Guzman; Demetrio Sebastian Cortez-Ordaz; Zeferina Salgado de Cortez; Demtrio Cortez-Ordaz,
Modesto Santiago-Sanchez, Victorino Epifanio Bazante Pacheco, and Florencio Solanes-Morales,
who were arrested on Nov. 9, 2011. In a related action Gregorio Salgado-Lopez was arrested in
California on a Mexican provisional arrest warrant, for potential extradition to Mexico to face
Mexican gun smuggling charges. According to the charges, between 2006 and June 2009, the
defendants allegedly purchased more than 400 .22 caliber rifles at a store in Madera, Calif., to be
sold in Mexico. Demetrio Cortez-Ordaz was also charged with exporting firearms to Mexico in
violation of the Arms Export Control Act. This investigation was conducted by ATF, ICE and
Mexican law enforcement agencies.
Exports of Hazardous Materials to Saudi Arabia – On Nov. 2, 2011, in the Northern District of
California, a grand jury returned an indictment charging MEDCHEM Corporation and its owner
Hasan Ibrahim with: two counts of attempted placement of destructive substance on an aircraft,
one count of transportation of hazardous materials without shipping papers, nine counts of
transportation of hazardous materials without labels, one count of failure to file export
information, one count of attempted smuggling of goods, and one count of attempted smuggling
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