Did Israel Sell US Military
Copters To Colombian
Drug Dealers?
World Tribune
4-17-4
Did Israel Sell US Military Copters To Colombian Drug Dealers? AVIV ñ
Israel has acknowledged that U.S.-origin military helicopters were
sold to Colombia and might have landed in the hands of drug dealers.
Israeli officials said five MD-500 surveillance helicopters were sold
by the Defense Ministry and ended up in the hands of a Colombian
national. The helicopters were not transferred to the authorized
end-user, they said.
The MD-500 helicopters were transferred from U.S. Air Force surplus to
Israel as part of Washington's military aid to the Jewish state,
Middle East Newsline reported. From there, Israel's Defense Ministry
sold the aircraft to the private firm, Globus Aviation.
Officials said the end-user for the MD-500 was to have been either
authorities in Mexico or Spain. The MD-500 was manufactured by
McDonnell Douglas, now part of Boeing.
Instead, the end-user was identified as Aviel, a private firm from
Colombia. Officials confirmed that the U.S. Federal Aviation
Administration has called for an Israeli investigation.
Officials had no information on Aviel. But they said the helicopters
might have been transferred or leased to drug dealers or related
criminal activities in Colombia.
Israeli nationals have been linked to the transfer of weapons and
military platforms to criminal activities in South America. In August
2003, three Israeli nationals were ordered arrested by Guatemala for
the alleged sale of weapons to Colombian paramilitary groups.
In an unrelated development, Israel's Defense Ministry has agreed to
delay the delivery of U.S.-built armored Humvee military vehicles for
the Israeli military. The ministry agreed to a U.S. request that the
vehicles would be instead delivered to the U.S. military in Iraq.
Israel had ordered 120 Humvee vehicles from the United States ñ with
an option for additional 100 ñ in a deal to have been financed by
military aid from Washington. The first batch of 37 armored jeeps were
to have been delivered over the next week and deployed in the West
Bank and Gaza Strip.
Under U.S. law, the United States has the right to expropriate its
foreign military exports for U.S. military use. Until a year ago,
Israel's Plasan Sasa had produced the armored jeeps, but the Defense
Ministry began ordering them from the United States amid an Israeli
government decision to sharply reduce the defense budget.
Copyright © 2004 East West Services, Inc.
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