TAMPA – A federal grand jury in Tampa returned an indictment charging Henson Chua, 47, of Manilla, Philippines, with violations of the Arms Export Control Act and smuggling, following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s ( ICE ) Homeland Security Investigations ( HSI ).
If convicted on all counts, Chua faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison.
Chua was arrested on a criminal complaint on the evening of Feb. 10 in Los Angeles.
“ICE HSI is committed to protecting the security of our homeland and our troops abroad by ensuring that the sale and distribution of weapons and military technology is done lawfully, and that these items do not fall into the wrong hands,” said Susan McCormick, special agent in charge of ICE HSI in Tampa. “We make use of our full statutory authority to investigate and enforce criminal violations of all U.S. export laws related to military items, controlled ‘dual-use’ commodities and sanctioned or embargoed countries. Our national security depends on it.”
According to the indictment, Chua knowingly and willfully caused the temporary import into the United States of an item designated as a defense article on the U.S. Munitions List, namely an RQ-11B “Raven” Unmanned Aerial Vehicle ( UAV ), and aided and abetted the attempted export from the United States of the same item, without having first obtained from the U.S. Department of State a license or written authorization.
Chua is also accused of knowingly bringing an item into the United States contrary to law.
According to court documents, Chua initially listed the item for sale on eBay and then engaged in communications with undercover agents from ICE HSI which culminated in the recovery of the item by U.S. officials.
ICE HSI was assisted by the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations.
This case will be prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara C. Sweeney, Middle District of Florida
I noticed there was no mention of where the accused was at durring all of this. I assume he was still in the Philippines.
No country can forces it’s rule of law on any individual in any other country. The laws stop at the border. ICE can take the equipment, as that is their job….er, and aparently taking down domestic web sites. But the accused should tell them to take a long hike otherwise…I would.
ICE needs to make up their minds. Either they are about Immigration and Customs, or they are about attacking citizens on domestic web sites.
Yes, because there is no such thing as an extradition treaty.
Commenting on the law when you no absolutely nothing about it makes you sound like a retard.
“Chua was arrested on a criminal complaint on the evening of Feb. 10 in Los Angeles.”
I’m pretty sure he was in Los Angeles, given that he was arrested there. Duh
The item is listed on a controlled munitions list, and he attempted to cross a border of the US with it, presumably to sell it to a buyer in the United States. If you carefully read the article, he
{snip}
Chua was arrested on a criminal complaint on the evening of Feb. 10 in Los Angeles.
{/snip}
Meaning he was within the US, most likely to complete the transaction. He attempted to sell a controlled munition to a third party, thank goodness it was a US operative, and is now in jail.
Read before you post.
I want to see you tell them to “take a long hike”, let me know, I want to come watch.
“Chua was arrested on a criminal complaint on the evening of Feb. 10 in Los Angeles.”
Apparently you didn’t read the same article that I did. The one I read said “Chua was arrested on a criminal complaint on the evening of Feb. 10 in Los Angeles.” which would clearly indicate he was in the US. Since it said he was arrested, that would indicate taken into custody.
The Philippines is a US territory. Federal law applies.
Who cares? It’s a freaking model airplane with a camera. No national secrets there.
Ted:
“Chua is also accused of knowingly bringing an item into the United States contrary to law.”
Wow, I guess I could have just refreshed my page, I wouldnt have thought I should have pointed out the arrested part. When I started writing my reply, His was the ONLY comment on the page.
Uhm… what?
The Philippines has not been part of the U.S. since July 4th, 1946.
Seriously, I agree. That little thing wouldn’t pass muster at a flying field. Radio control enthusiasts have been doing this for years. You can even buy the whole setup for less than $500 on hobby king: starting with http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=14465
Are you on crack? Republika ng Pilipinas is a country.
The Philippines hasn’t been a US territory for over 60 years. I think the grace period of the laws applying has passed.
I agree this is a model airplane with a camera. No “munitions” involved. They actually have better ones then this available to consumers now. This is a bogus case for an outdated item. Way to go wasting our money on a guy selling a model airplane.
US doesn’t apply overseas huh? wiki reference: Rep. Chris Smith, R-NJ recently introduced H.R. 1623, the “International Megan’s Law”. Similar to the domestic Megan’s Law, which provides for community notification when a sex offender is living in the area, H.R. 1623 would alert officials abroad when U.S. sex offenders intend to travel, and likewise encourage other countries to keep sex offender lists and to notify the U.S. when a known sex offender may be coming to the United States for sex tourism.[26]
The entire thing is ridiculous. You can buy or build your own UAV with the same or better performance. The government is just trying to enforce obsolete cold war era laws to no end. Wasting taxpayers money as usual because they cant find any real terrorists.
The details are weak, but it sounds like we lost one of these things and he found it. Then we he goes to sell it, they trick him into coming to the US so that they could snare his arse. Stupid waste of time. I am sure if they just had someone go to him in the Filipines and gave him a few bucks it would have been all done and over with. This is just another attempt by ICE/DHS to show they are fighting the “War on Terrorism” by making something out of nothing.
‘Nuff said.
Did anyone ask where he got the Raven?
And you sound *really* smart when you don’t know how to spell
Extradition treaty? You sir know (not ‘no’) nothing about law. Extradition is the process of transferring a suspect who is charged with violating a law while IN country A, but has fled to country B. If there is an extradition agreement between country A and B, then prisoners may be transferred between A and B depending on the terms thereof. That does NOT mean for example, that a citizen of A, residing in A, is subject to local or national law of country B. That would be ridiculous. If that were the case, then every female pop singer in the US should be sent to Saudi Arabia to be stoned for immodesty.
BTW You can give you uninformed, fallacious opinion without being arrogant, and taking a second look at your spelling and diction when you are “correcting” someone wouldn’t hurt either.
Have a look at the Ker-Frisbie Doctrine. The US will quite happily kidnap people if it suits its purpose.
Most likely they don’t give a crap about the vehicle, but either the camera itself or whats recorded on the camera. If it was lost by the military then who knows what the capability of that camera is.
While I agree about the comments in regards to ice I to tend to wonder if this guy read the article. It does state that the man arrested was in LA.
Kindest greetings Henson Chua,
My name is Jack Baconnaise and I am a collector in the US State of California. I am interested into buy your US MILITARY SPEC RQ-11 RAVEN MODEL AIRPLANE for the asking price of $13,000USD (THIRTEEN THOUSAND US DOLLARS). Please forward pictures of more condition and your contact information so we can complete this purchasing transaction.
Urgent regards,
Jack Baconnaise
Extradition Treaty. Yes that’s highly relevant.
Sigh
Look’s like nobody can make a buck with these things!
How the heck did this Phillipino get a hold of this drone?
Did this guy sold this drone to an enemy republic?