L
LequteMan
Guest
A 33-year-old man, Patrick Campbell was this week arrested at the JFK airport in New York for trying to smuggle Uranium into the country. He has been charged of trying to act as an intermediary to sell Iran 1,000 tons of purified uranium, in violation of US law. He arrived from Paris but he is based in Sierra Leone.
He had been under surveillance since May 2012, when he responded to an ad on the site Alibaba.com by someone looking to buy uranium 308, or yellow cake.
The buyer was actually an undercover US immigration officer.
He was asked to supply 1,000 tons of uranium - disguised with other types of ore to escape detection. He promised to ship the product, disguised as chromite, from Sierra Leone to the port of Bandar Abbas in Iran.
In the course of numerous conversations over telephone, Skype and email, Campbell claimed to be linked to a company that sold uranium, gold, diamonds, and chromite at the border of Liberia and Sierra Leone, according to the indictment.
Campbell was arrested in New York on his way to Florida, where he planned to show his "contact" some uranium samples.
The samples were wrapped in plastic bags and were hidden in the soles of a pair of shoes in his luggage.
Investigators also found contact information for the sale and delivery of the uranium on a USB key.
Accused of violating US law concerning transactions with Iran, Campbell could face up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $1 million.
The case was transferred to a federal court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
He had been under surveillance since May 2012, when he responded to an ad on the site Alibaba.com by someone looking to buy uranium 308, or yellow cake.
The buyer was actually an undercover US immigration officer.
He was asked to supply 1,000 tons of uranium - disguised with other types of ore to escape detection. He promised to ship the product, disguised as chromite, from Sierra Leone to the port of Bandar Abbas in Iran.
In the course of numerous conversations over telephone, Skype and email, Campbell claimed to be linked to a company that sold uranium, gold, diamonds, and chromite at the border of Liberia and Sierra Leone, according to the indictment.
Campbell was arrested in New York on his way to Florida, where he planned to show his "contact" some uranium samples.
The samples were wrapped in plastic bags and were hidden in the soles of a pair of shoes in his luggage.
Investigators also found contact information for the sale and delivery of the uranium on a USB key.
Accused of violating US law concerning transactions with Iran, Campbell could face up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $1 million.
The case was transferred to a federal court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
