Apr
20
Canada Prosecutes Export Violation; Sun Sets in East
Posted by Clif Burns at 5:29 pm on April 20, 2009
Category: Criminal Penalties • Iran Sanctions
The lede in the Globe and Mail story says it all:
MILTON, ONT., TORONTO — In a case that police say is without precedent, an Iranian-Canadian has been charged with trying to export technology that could have helped Tehran get the nuclear bomb it so desperately seeks.
Yes, even the Mounties admit that it is rare from them to catch someone violating the export laws and even rarer for them to prosecute them.
A 35-year-old Canadian man in Toronto, Mahmoud Yadegari, was accused of attempting to ship 10 pressure transducers to Iran. These devices are claimed to be useful in the enrichment of uranium.
The Mounties were tipped off by Setra Systems, the Massachusetts-based manufacturer of the device, after Setra received Yadegari’s order. They told the Mounties that this was an unusual purchase from an unknown purchaser in Canada. (Of course, instead of shipping the goods and calling the cops, Setra arguably should have never shipped the goods under these circumstances.)
George Webb, a Canadian counter-proliferation official, explained to the Globe and Mail why export prosecutions are so rare in Canada, and the explanation is definitely not pretty:
[Webb said] that 25 similar seizures were made in Canada last year – but these cases were never made public, as no one was ever arrested.
Canada has recently intercepted “isolation chambers, isotope splitters – everything from soup to nuts,” said Mr. Webb …. But no one could peer past the webs of domestic front companies and foreign intrigues to find the perpetrators.
[Webb said] the new case is unique, as it is the first time his officials have managed to hand over such an investigation to the Mounties for prosecution. And the perpetrators behind last year’s 25 seized shipments, the ones that didn’t result in publicity or arrests? “We don’t even know who they are,” Mr. Webb said.
This only makes sense if Canadian shippers take international packages from unknown shippers who pay cash, something that seems, well, unlikely. Otherwise, you’d think that a Mounty or two could get off their ponies long enough to figure out who in fact was shipping nuclear technology out of Canada rather than just wringing their hands about domestic front-companies and foreign intrigues.
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Copyright © 2009 Clif Burns. All Rights Reserved.
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10 Comments:
The horse looks smarter than the Mountie.
This is a big red flag for all of us who toil in the export control community. We worry about transshipments of sensitive U.S. items from places like Dubai and Singapore, but now it sounds like our biggest trading partner’s cluelessness is undermining U.S. export controls right under our noses. And it’s particularly problematic given that our exports to Canada are in most cases exempt from AES reporting. Mr. Obama should have a neighborly (or neighbourly) chat with Mr. Harper about this.
Frankly, Canada has always been our weak link in every way imaginable. i.e., 9/11 terrorists.
Regards,
Kelly
Don’t get ahead of yourself. He has not been prosecuted for anything. Remember the concept of guilty until proven otherwise.
Also, it’s yet to be proven these pressure transducers were intended for nuclear production. The Setra website says the uses “include not only industrial, OEM, barometric, HVAC/R (Heating, Ventilating, Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration), environmental, test and measurement, food and pharmaceutical, but the agricultural, medical, and semi-conductor industries as well.”
We should wait until this man has his day in court before we contribute to the Iranian hysteria.
Gerry,
The post made quite clear that he was just charged, not convicted. The point of the post, in any event, was not really about the defendant but about the rather diffident attitude of the Canadian government towards export enforcement. Apparently, they can only charge somebody when somebody else hands them the evidence, all gift-wrapped and with a bow on top. Otherwise when the seize dual use items useful in proliferation headed to Iran, they throw up their hands and say “I wonder who might have sent that?”
Also, your reference to the website’s other uses for the transducers completely misses the point on controls on dual use items. By definition, all dual use items can be used for other things and they are controlled for export even if the exporter intends them to be used for benign purposes.
What did Canada have to do with the 9-11 terrorists? They all came into the United States legally from the Middle East, and we even trained them on how to fly airliners into our own buildings. Stupid, yes. Canada’s fault, no.
Dear Joey:
With reference to your “What did Canada have to do with the 9-11 terrorists?,” please see the 9/11 Commission Report. http://www.gpoaccess.gov/911/pdf/fullreport.pdf
Regards,
Kelly
Kelly,
Please cite specific passages from the 9-11 report that say the terrorists came through Canada? Citing the whole report seems like a quick way to dodge the fact that your original statement was wrong, which I believe (but am not sure) it is.
And here’s a recent news report stating as much. Note the last line:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5g-NwYE5X587TOf1JRYGyugVdIYtg
What are “isotope splitters�
Clif,
You have quoted three statements by George Webb. Here is another one from the same news story.
Iran currently has “all of the required materials” to produce a nuclear weapon, Webb said. “I don’t personally believe they’re there yet, but they are very, very, very close.”
It was the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that contacted the Canada Border Services Agency. There have been many changes in the US over the past few months. Most of John McCains “Bomb, bomb, bomb Iran†gang are looking for a job. That is not the case here in Canada. Have a closer look at what Mr Webb is saying. Could this be true?
