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U.S. Charges Man With Smuggling Nuclear Equipment to Pakistan
U.S. authorities last week arrested Israeli citizen Asher Karni in Denver on charges that he illegally transferred equipment to Pakistan capable of being used in nuclear weapons, according to the Rocky Mountain News (see GSN, Jan. 5). According to court documents, the South African-based Karni used a New Jersey company to order 200 switches known as triggered spark gaps from Perkin Elmer Optoelectronics in Massachusetts. The switches, which can be used in medical devices, require U.S. approval for export to certain countries, including Pakistan, because of their potential use in nuclear weapons. Alarmed by the large quantity of the order — even large hospitals use very few of the switches, according to Perkin Elmer — the firm alerted U.S. authorities and later proceeded to deliver an initial shipment of 66 switches to the New Jersey export company, after having first disabled the devices, according to the News. The New Jersey company is then believed to have misled authorities about both the nature of devices and their intended destination, saying they were to be shipped to a South African hospital, to avoid having to obtain an export license. Once the switches arrived in South Africa, Karni allegedly transferred them to a Pakistani company. The U.S. affidavit for Karni’s arrest says that he admitted the illegal transfer when South African police searched his business in Cape Town, the News reported (Karen Abbott, Rocky Mountain News, Jan. 9). A U.S. federal judge yesterday ruled that Karni can be released on $75,000 cash bond, according to the Associated Press. Karni will remain in custody until at least Thursday, however, while the government appeals the judge’s ruling, said a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Denver (Associated Press, Jan. 13).
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