Two Alabama men have been charged with trafficking over 300 weapons and ammunition into Mexico, DOJ announced. Emilio Ramirez Cortes, a Mexican citizen legally residing in the U.S., and his son Edgar Emilio Ramirez Diaz, are both charged with "smuggling firearms, ammunition, magazines and other firearms accessories as well as trafficking of firearms," DOJ said.
An Australian national pleaded guilty Oct. 29 to two counts of theft of trade secrets, DOJ announced. Peter Williams admitted to selling his employer's trade secrets to a Russian "cyber-tools broker," the agency said.
New Mexico resident Canyon Anthony Amarys, a U.S. national guardsman, was arrested last week after DOJ said he tried to provide an export-controlled radio to someone he believed was a Russian intelligence official. He was charged with attempting to violate the Export Control Reform Act.
A Pakistani national was sentenced to 40 years in prison on charges relating to the transportation of Iranian-origin advanced conventional weaponry, DOJ announced Oct. 23. Muhammad Pahlawan was convicted in June of conspiracy to provide material support to terror groups, providing material support to Iran's weapons of mass destruction program, providing material support to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' weapons of mass destruction program and conspiring to ship explosive devices to the Houthi rebel group, DOJ said.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Oct. 17 rejected both the government’s and law firm Husch Blackwell’s motions for judgment in a Freedom of Information Act dispute involving the Entity List. It gave the Commerce Department time to provide adequate justifications for its decisions to withhold certain information but said the ones it already provided weren’t enough (Husch Blackwell v. Department of Commerce, D.D.C. # 24-2733.
Chinese drone maker SZ DJI Technology said this week that it will appeal a recent decision from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia denying the company's challenge to its designation as a Chinese military company. DJI will take the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (SZ DJI Technology v. U.S. Department of Defense, D.D.C. # 24-02970).
The Bureau of Industry and Security on Sept. 30 again renewed the temporary denial order for Russia's Ural Airlines, saying it has continued to illegally operate flights within Russia and to and from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. The order, first issued in October 2022 (see 2210170009) and renewed multiple times, bars the airline from participating in transactions with items subject to the Export Administration Regulations. The order was renewed for one year.
The Bureau of Industry and Security again renewed temporary denial orders for three Russian airlines accused of violating U.S. export controls against Russia.
Gregory Munoz, a salesperson for a Massachusetts biochemical company that DOJ said was part of an illegal export scheme involving China, was sentenced to 18 months in prison and ordered to forfeit $100,000. DOJ said Munoz pleaded guilty in 2024 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
The U.S. charged Armenian national Kamo Kirakosyan this week with violating export controls after DOJ said he participated in a conspiracy to illegally export semiconductor manufacturing items from the U.S. to Russia through Armenia.