Saturday, April 2, 2011

You can buy almost anything on EBAY....Like time in the Federal Pen !!



Yes - You can buy ANYTHING (well almost anything) on EBAY...looks like this guy got himself a lengthy stay at CLUB FED for his troubles.....He is likely not a member of the local MENSA chapter.

Man arrested in sting operation after selling U.S. spy drone on eBay By Daily Mail Reporter 2nd April 2011

It is said you can buy and sell anything on eBay. But for one Philippine national who sold and mailed a U.S. military drone to undercover agents, the postage and packing could cost him up to 20 years in jail.

Henson Chua, 47, was caught by an undercover Homeland Security agent as he tried to sell the four lb 'Raven' for $13,000. He is now charged with violating the Arms Export Control Act and smuggling and faces up to 20 years in jail if convicted.

It is not known how Chua acquired the hand-launched plane, but according to official documents he allegedly bought it from the Philippine government.

The Raven is equipped with three cameras that U.S. troops use for battlefield surveillance and can be taken apart by troops and then reassembled for use.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, agents with the Homeland Security Department found out last May that Chua was offering a Raven for sale on eBay for $13,000. The listing had nine pictures of the plane that clearly showed an ID tag and bar code proving its authenticity.

Homeland Security agents then began to talk to Chua, who had been living in the U.S. since April 2010 on a non immigrant visa. Agents then called Chua on May 17, where he allegedly claimed to have bought the Raven from the Philippine government, who sold it as abandoned property. U.S. agents then allegedly warned Chua that exporting the plane out of the country was illegal. But in an email exchange, Chua then told them: 'Now, as far as the US permits. yes you're right that could be a bit of a problem for me if this isn't done right.'

'It's tricky because you have to be a registered broker with the state department in order to transfer US military items.

(The Raven and its parts are definitely military items.) Otherwise, you're breaking US law. The agents exchanged messages with Chua over several months, and he sent the Raven to them in separate packages in exchange for the money, officials said. It is claimed he imported an RQ-11B Raven Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, or UAV from the Philippines into the U.S. which is listed on the U.S. Munitions List as a defensive item, 'without having first obtained from the U.S. Department of State a license or written authorisation.' He then 'aided and abetted the attempted export' when he offered to sell it to the undercover U.S. agent outside the country. U.S. arms code prohibits people from buying and selling defence equipment without permission from the government, primarily to prevent people from selling U.S. - manufactured equipment to foreign governments.

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