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Nuclear Smuggling Case Illustrates Trafficking
U.S. authorities contend that the case of Asher Karni, an Israeli businessman accused of trying to sell nuclear components to an associate in Pakistan, offers insight into the international network of nuclear trafficking, the Los Angeles Times reported today (see GSN, Feb. 20). “There are Iranian networks, Chinese networks, Middle East networks, sophisticated networks buying technology and parts all over the world,” said a senior official at the U.S. Homeland Security Department. “They’re operating in the United States every day. Some of them are family businesses, where fathers pass it on to their sons,” the official added. Officials said the Karni case is an example of what they believe is an international network of entrepreneurs, transporters, scientists, manufacturers, government agents, organized-crime syndicates and possibly terrorists, the Times reported. One network was discovered early this year when Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan confessed to selling nuclear weapons programs to Iran, Libya and North Korea (see GSN, Jan. 28). “This is another piece in the global puzzle of suppliers and buyers, middlemen and [front companies] all over the planet,” said Representative Christopher Cox (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Select Committee on Homeland Security, who added that he was not commenting on Karni’s guilt or innocence. “The problem was hardly created on Sept. 11. But the stark reality of it and the unspeakable consequences of it have now gripped policy-makers,” he added. Karni is suspected of trying to ship to Pakistan up to 200 triggered spark gaps, dual-use items that could be used as nuclear detonators. He is charged with violating the federal Export Control Act and other laws; federal authorities have kept Karni in custody since his arrest, arguing that he is a flight risk and a national security threat. He faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison (Josh Meyer, Los Angeles Times, May 24).
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