New York: At least 13 people have been arrested in the US on charges of plotting to buy surface-to-air missiles and other weapons for Sri Lanka's separatist LTTE, designated as a foreign terrorist group by Washington.
The men - arrested in a sting operation by undercover agents from across the US including Buffalo, Simsbury, California, San Jose and Seattle - conspired to buy surface-to-air missiles from a black market source in the US and sought to have the LTTE removed from the US list of terrorist organisations and obtain classified intelligence by bribing the State Department officials, prosecutors claimed.
Most of the arrested were Canadian or Sri Lankan nationals. Additional arrests were expected, sources said.
They were allegedly trying to buy 10 Russian-made missiles and 500 AK-47 rifles for the Tamil Tiger rebels.
Among those arrested was 54-year-old India-born Nachimuthu Socrates, described in court papers as a Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) supporter based in North America.
Socrates, being held pending court appearance later this week, was alleged to have tried to bribe a State Department official who was actually an undercover agent to get LTTE removed from the list of foreign terrorist organisations and obtain classified information.
Assistant US Attorney Mark Rubino said the government viewed Socrates as a flight risk and sought his detention.
Comments
0 comment