US officials have detained an Israeli arms dealer for allegedly smuggling weapons to Somalia, violating a UN arms embargo on the Horn of African country.
A Florida district court charged Hanoch Miller with illegal arms sales to Somalia, forging documents, and money laundering, Ha’aretz reported on Tuesday.
The Israeli foreign and defense ministries have rejected allegations of their involvement in smuggling arms to Somalia.
Miller and an unidentified American partner, who are both under detention, have allegedly delivered hundreds of AK-47s to the government of Somaliland — a breakaway district in Somalia since 1991.
They have allegedly bought the weapons in Bosnia and used cargo planes to send them to the African country.
The shipment documents provided by Miller and his American partner, suggested that the “end user” was the defense ministry of Chad.
Unlike Somalia, Chad is not under an arms embargo by the UN Security Council.
Miller, 53, is an aerospace engineer, who after leaving the Israeli military set up his own company, Radom Aviation Systems, which was involved in upgrading aircrafts.
Three years ago Miller left Radom and established an independent firm in Yehud, which he said worked on electronic warfare and night vision equipment, but it now appears that it has also been involved in firearms.
Source: Press TV
Israeli arms smuggler arrested in US
Published: June 29, 2010
