Bo Cai, Arms Export Control Act Violation, New Mexico 2014

Two Chinese nationals were sentenced in New Mexico for conspiring to violate the Arms Export Control Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). Bo Cai, 29, of Nanjing, China, and his cousin Wentong Cai, 30, of Chifeng, China, were charged with a scheme to illegally export sensors manufactured for sale to the U.S. Department of Defense.

The Arms Export Control Act and the ITAR prohibit the export of defense-related materials from the United States without obtaining a license or written approval from the U.S. Department of State. Bo Cai entered a guilty plea to all three counts of the superseding indictment in July 2014, and Wentong Cai pleaded guilty to Count 3 of the superseding indictment in December 2014.

According to court filings, the investigation began in October 2013, when an undercover U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agent responded to Wentong Cai’s overtures. After negotiations by telephone and email, in December 2013, Bo Cai and Wentong Cai traveled to New Mexico, where they obtained a sensor from undercover HSI agents and developed a plan for smuggling the sensor out of the United States to China.

On Dec. 11, 2013, Bo Cai was arrested at an airport in Los Angeles, as he was preparing to board a flight to China, after the sensor was discovered concealed in a computer speaker in his luggage. Wentong Cai subsequently was arrested on Jan. 22, 2014, in Ames, Iowa.

HSI Albuquerque, New Mexico, led the investigation of this case with assistance from the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations, the Defense Security Service, HSI in Iowa and Los Angeles, and the FBI. Iowa State University cooperated throughout with HSI’s investigation.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office of the District of New Mexico prosecuted the case with assistance from Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dean S. Tuckman and Fred J. Federici. The U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Central District of California and the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Iowa also assisted in the prosecution.

In sentencing, Bo Cai was given 24 months in prison, and Wentong Cai was given 18 months in federal prison. Both will be deported after completing their prison sentences.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/chinese-nationals-sentenced-new-mexico-conspiring-violate-arms-export-control-act