AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE,
Los Angeles: A Taiwan-born businessman pleaded guilty Wednesday to attempting to smuggle Chinese shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles into the United States. Naturalised US citizen Wu Chao Tung, 54, who admitted conspiring to import the missiles for a buyer who turned out to be an undercover agent, could face up to life in prison following his plea in a US federal court in Los Angeles.
But his lawyers said that Wu's plea bargain called for a sentence lighter than the 25-year minimum as he had substantially assisted prosecutors in the case.
Wu admitted that he conspired to smuggle, among other things, Chinese-made “Qianwei-2” shoulder-fired missiles — designed to shoot down airplanes — as well as launch and operation hardware for the weapons.
The QW-2 is capable of destroying civilian airliners and military aircraft and is touted by Chinese developers as “the world's most effective one-man shoulder-launched ultra-low-altitude air defense missile,” prosecutors said. Wu and co-accused Chen Yi Qing, 41, another Taiwan-born US citizen, told an undercover US agent that a buyer in Cambodia would order the missiles from the Chinese manufacturer, but that the missiles would instead be eventually shipped to the United States in containers.
One payment was allegedly to be a two million dollar bribe to the “daughter of the president of Cambodia” who would facilitate the shipment, according to court documents. Cambodia does not have a president.
The agent was told he should put down a 300,000-dollar deposit for the missiles in addition to wiring another one million dollars to Cambodia, according to the plea agreement. Wu and Chen, who are scheduled to go on trial on June 27, were the first people ever charged under an anti-terrorism law enacted in December 2004 that outlaws importing aircraft-destroying missile systems.
The undercover agent was authorized to wire a payment to a bank in Hong Kong, but the weapons were never delivered because Wu and Chen were arrested August before the deal was concluded.
Wu, who was indicted along with Chen in November, admitted that he and Chen did intend to broker missile sale. He and Chen were expecting a commission of five percent each, according to his plea agreement.
The plea is the latest in a string of prosecutions in the United States involving arms trade with China.
In addition to the missile charge, Wu pleaded guilty to smuggling methamphetamine drugs, ecstasy tablets, counterfeit US banknotes from North Korea and fake Marlboro cigarettes from China into the United States.
Wu admitted that another man went to China and obtained counterfeit 100-dollar bills with a total face value of one million dollars to bring into the United States.
Wu, Chen and others were originally indicted in August as part of “Operation Smoking Dragon,” a federal investigation into an international smuggling ring.
