Probe: Israeli firm tried to smuggle drones to China

By Yossi Melman, Haaretz Correspondent

The police and the Defense Ministry are conducting an investigation into suspicions that an Israeli company sought to smuggle defense-related reconnaissance drones to China.

The company under investigation, Amit, manufactures Remotely Piloted Vehicles (RPVs) for reconnaissance purposes.

At present, police detectives are searching the company’s factory, accompanied by the firm’s owner and his attorney.
Police intend to detain the owner as well as employees of the plant, based in Kadima in the Sharon district of central Israel.

The company and its owner are suspected of having transferred an RPV to a foreign nation, ostensibly for the purpose of displaying it at a weapons show. The transfer was allegedly carried out without a permit from the Defense Ministry.

Police suspect that the RPV was ultimately intended to be shipped to China, along with additional RPVs produced by Amit.

The deal under investigation was in the range of several million dollars.

In 2002, Amit signed signed an agreement with a firm in the foreign nation for joint development of an RPV. The internal security chief of the Defense Ministry suspected that the intended goal of the RPVs was China.

Ensuing checks led to a joint investigation of the Defense Ministry, the police national fraud squad and customs officials.

The issue of security imports to China is of particular sensitivity. In recent years, there have been revelations of RPV export to China without the permission from the United States.

The matter prompted a crisis in relations with the United States, and in its wake, it was decided to establish a special branch within the Defense Ministry for defense exports.

Until recently, the Amit company employed some 60 workers, selling its products to Europe and South America.

Following the investigation, however, the number of workers dropped to 20, and the Defense Ministry rescinded the permits which had allowed the company to conduct sales negotiations and to export defense-related equipment.