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

evealed more than 19,000 rounds of ammunition which was to be picked up and taken to Mexico
the following day. This investigation was conducted by ICE, ATF, CBP and the Arizona
Department of Public Safety.
Export / Import of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle – On July 28, 2011 in the Middle District of
Florida, Henson Chua, a citizen of the Philippines, pleaded guilty to one count of causing the
temporary import of a defense article, specifically, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), without
authorization, in violation of the Arms Export Control Act. He was sentenced on Nov. 8, 2011 to
time served. Hua was first charged on Feb. 10, 2011, by criminal complaint with illegally
conspiring to temporarily import into the U.S. and then to export a defense article. According to
court documents, ICE agents were contacted by the U.S. military in May 2010 about a “Raven”
UAV that was posted for sale on eBay.com. The Raven is a U.S.-made UAV manufactured by
AeroVironment Inc. for the U.S. Army. Chua was attempting to sell the UAV for $13,000 on
eBay. Undercover ICE agents posing as buyers were able to identify the UAV and confirm that it
was U.S. government property. Agents purchased the nose cone for the UAV from Chua and
then later arrested Chua on Feb. 10, 2011 after he arrived at the Los Angeles airport. He was later
indicted on March 10, 2011, on charges of smuggling and Arms Export Control Act violations.
The investigation was conducted by ICE.
Assault Rifles to Mexico – On July 27, 2011, eight members of a ring convicted of lying to buy
firearms bound for Mexico were sentenced in the Southern District of Texas to prison terms
ranging from 30 to 60 months. U.S. District Judge Randy Crane sentenced Juan Manuel
Barrientos-Lopez, 29, an undocumented alien from Mexico; Andres Alvarez, 24, of Alamo,
Texas; Armando Bravo II, aka Peanut, 22, Romulo Longoria, 21, Greg Palacios, 19, and Ruben
Ramirez III, 20, all of San Juan, Texas; as well as Alan Ramirez, 20, and Michael Anthony
Salazar, 20, both of McAllen, to varying prison terms for their roles in a straw purchasing scheme
to acquire firearms bound for Mexico. All eight men pleaded guilty on various dates in March
and April 2011 to lying on the ATF Form 4473 when they falsely represented themselves to be
the “actual owner” of varying types of semi-automatic weapons they were buying for another
earlier this year. Judge Crane held Barrientos-Lopez, as the organization’s head, responsible for
the purchase of a total of 38 AK-47 and AR-15 type rifles purchased by the ring and sentenced
him to 60 months in federal prison, the maximum sentence allowed by law. Alvarez was
sentenced to 48 months imprisonment, while Bravo received 60 months. Longoria, Palacios, Alan
Ramirez and Salazar were each sentenced to 30 months while Ruben Ramirez was sentenced to
33 months. This investigation was conducted by the ATF.
Ammunition to Mexico – On July 13, 2011, Rene Huerta Jr., was sentenced in the Southern
District of Texas to more than 11 years in prison (136 months) for being a felon in possession of
ammunition and attempting to export ammunition to Mexico. On Nov. 24, 2010, Huerta was
stopped by U.S. border officials as he was traveling from the United States to Matamoros,
Mexico with more than 6,000 rounds of 7.62 x 39 mm ammunition in a dashboard compartment
in his vehicle. This caliber ammunition is used in assault rifles. Huerta was convicted on April
13, 2011. The investigation was conducted by ICE and CBP.
Machine Gun Specifications and Components to China – On July 12, 2011, Swiss Technology
(Swiss Tech), Inc., a company in Clifton, N.J. that makes equipment for the U.S. military,
pleaded guilty in the District of New Jersey to a one count criminal information charging the firm
with conspiracy to violate the Arms Export Control Act from August 2004 to about July 2009.
On Nov. 15, 2011, Swiss Tech was sentenced to two years probation and ordered to pay
restitution in the amount of $1.1 million to the Defense Department in connection with fraudulent
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