Pakistani-Canadian held for smuggling US tech to entities linked to Pak military, weapons programmes

New York: A Pakistani-Canadian national has been arrested for running a years-long scheme to circumvent US export control laws and smuggle millions of dollars’ worth of American technology to entities associated with Pakistan's military and weapons programmes.

Mohammad Jawaid Aziz (67) was arrested on March 21 in the Western District of Washington while attempting to cross into the United States from Canada. He remains detained, pending transfer to the district of Minnesota.

Aziz has been charged with conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and Export Control Reform Act, which carries a maximum statutory penalty of five years in prison; and violating the Export Control Reform Act, which carries a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison.

The indictment alleges that from 2003 through approximately March 2019, Aziz operated an illicit procurement network through his Canada-based company Diversified Technology Services. The purpose of the network was to obtain US-origin goods on behalf of prohibited entities in Pakistan that were associated with the south Asian country's nuclear, missile, and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) programmes.

Aziz, while operating through Diversified Technology Services, procured various goods, including sensitive and restricted items subject to export administration regulations (EAR) and those on the Commerce Control List, from US companies on behalf of the restricted entities in Pakistan.

As alleged, Siddiqui and his co-conspirators worked to conceal the true end-users of the goods from US companies, often using front companies and transshipping goods through third countries to evade detection, a statement from the Department of Justice said.