Four Asian businessmen plotted to buy hundreds of handguns, machine guns, Sidewinder missiles and aviation radar equipment for export to Indonesia, the Detroit Free Press reports. The four men, who have been charged in Detroit and Honolulu, were arrested Sunday after meeting in Hawaii with people they thought were representatives of a Detroit company which could supply the military hardware. All four men were charged with conspiring to violate the U.S. Arms Export Control Act.
Charged were Hadianto Djoko Djuliarso, 41, of Indonesia, Ibrahim Bin Amran, 46, of Singapore, who were identified as owners of four companies based in Indonesia or Singapore. Also charged were Ignatius Ferdinandus Soeharli, identified as the financier, and David Beecroft. Their ages and home nations were not identified. Court papers said Djuliarso and Amran tried to arrange for the purchase of radar parts for military aircraft, 245 Sidewinder missiles, 882 Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine guns, 800 H & K 9mm handguns, 16 H&K sniper rifles and 5,000 rounds of strafing ammunition. It was unclear from the court papers how the investigation began, and authorities would not discuss the matter.
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