Chinese Spies Nailed At LAX
I especially like the last line in the article: “The men were taken to the downtown Metropolitan Detention Center and could not immediately be reached for comment.”
LOS ANGELES - Two men attempting to board a plane to China with nearly a dozen sensitive infrared cameras in their luggage were arrested on Saturday, a federal official said.
Federal agents stopped the pair on the jetway as they were preparing to board the flight to Beijing.
The men had been in the United States for about a week, said Rick Weir, assistant special agent in charge of the Los Angeles office of the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security.
Yong Guo Zhi, a Chinese national, and Tah Wei Chao, a naturalized U.S. citizen, were arrested for investigation of trying to take thermal imaging cameras with potential military use to China without the proper export licenses, Weir said.
Julie Salcido, a supervising agent with the Bureau of Industry and Security, said one of the men purchased the cameras, assuring the seller repeatedly that they were only for domestic use.
“He repeatedly said he wouldn’t export,” she said.
Ten of the cameras, which measure about 2 inches square and cost about $5,000 each, were found in the men’s checked luggage, Weir said. Salcido said it appeared they split the shipment up between them.
The cameras have both commercial and military uses but they are “very expensive, highly sensitive,” Weir said. “They’re not something you could buy off the shelf.”
The men were taken to the downtown Metropolitan Detention Center and could not immediately be reached for comment.
(AP)
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I, for one am thankful these guys were spied on and caught. They could probably get it shipped through someone else, but we won’t go there. Anyway, if they government wants to spy on me let them, screw you ACLU.
April 6th, 2008 at 4:11 pmI wonder if there’s a finger flipping the bird icon?
Good catch. The Chinese steal a lot of technology from us. Russia does too of course, and has for many years. It’s good to see we’re keeping at least somewhat of an eye out for them.
Nice infrared shot of a CH-47 by the way…except it looks like the aft end is on fire. I made a few jumps (aka a “ramp blast”) out of the back of one of those way back when.
April 6th, 2008 at 5:38 pmMost likely this was a Chinese company looking to replicate and reverse engineer the cameras for resale on the market in Asia. There are other less risky ways to get these out of the country. In particular our European allies are allot less strict about exports, especially France and Germany who have been more than willing to sell assets to parties unfriendly to US interests.
April 6th, 2008 at 5:41 pmHere’s a good story on How China steals from the USA.
April 6th, 2008 at 5:45 pmhttp://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/military_law/3319656.html
why dont we start shooting these damn spies? seriously, china has 1.3 billion people, they cant put all of their heads together and come up with their own stuff? they always have to steal from us
April 6th, 2008 at 6:56 pmThey steal from us with the help of the US Government and the Universities who subsidize Chinese, Middle Eastern, and other Nationals who are potential enemies in the post grad (Masters and PhDs) studies at our Universities.
They receive help that our own American students do not receive. They then go to professions with our research centers such as Livermore Lab, or tech shops, with the Federal government R&D centers, etc.
Additionally, software used by the Federal government is developed in 3rd world countries (India, Red China, etc.) or in country by visa’d tech employees from those countries.
April 6th, 2008 at 7:30 pmThey do, Kurt, they do so with the help of the US Government and our Universities. We taxpayers subsidize nationals from India, China, Pakistan, and other Middle Eastern Countries in post grad programs at our Universities. These programs are not readily available or not available at all to US students.
The grads from these programs — scientists, etc. are then filtered into R&D think tanks, US secret labs like Livermore, White Sands, etc., our tech shops, etc.
These are the same students who cheered on 9/11 along with their University professors.
And what do you think about Federal software being developed in 3rd world countries like India and Red China or by nationals from those countries in this country on visas?
April 6th, 2008 at 7:39 pmSo when do we get to go to war with China?
April 6th, 2008 at 11:24 pmHope these little china dinks guts are rotting in a landfill in LA–
April 7th, 2008 at 3:46 amA good FBI guy would make that happen-on the way “downtown”.
The Bureau of Industry and Secuity! What? Never heard of this one. How many overlapping police-agencies must we have?
April 7th, 2008 at 9:01 amWell at least they seemed to have succeeded in this account.
And that is what counts in the end. Where is (was) the FBI on this case?
To many cases of the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing, in our country for way to long. That is how the “bad guys”, terrorists, mafia etc. can get away with their plans while the agencies argue over who suppose to do what and when.
How many more Chinese spys are out there? To many if logic dictates.