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Undergrade Chinese magnesium entered US
military arsenal
AP, BUFFALO, NEW YORK
Sunday, May 02, 2010, Page 5
US Federal authorities charged six people and three companies on Friday with
importing substandard magnesium powder from China into the US, where officials
say it got into the Department of Defenseˇ¦s (DOD) arsenal, but was discovered
before being used in combat or exercises.
The powder was used to make 1.8 million ˇ§countermeasureˇ¨ flares, worth US$42
million, that are used by military aircraft to divert heat-seeking missiles.
Officials said that none made it onto aircraft before being quarantined and that
all would be destroyed.
ˇ§Heaven forbid the measures would not have worked if a pilot was under direct
attack by a missile and this was his or her last line of defense,ˇ¨ US Attorney
William Hochul said.
A grand jury indictment outlined an elaborate scheme that allowed defendants ˇX
who hail from New York, Pennsylvania and China ˇX not only to benefit from a
lucrative defense contract, but also to avoid steep tariffs meant to protect the
American magnesium industry.
The Chinese-made magnesium was mixed with aluminum nuggets and mislabeled when
it entered the country in sealed drums through ports in Los Angeles and
Washington, investigators said, so that it would not be subject to a 306 percent
duty.
Once inside the US, the quarter-inch aluminum nuggets were sifted out and the
magnesium sold to an unknowing defense contractor, Kilgore Flares, investigators
said.
ˇ§As a result, DOD was sold non-conforming flares, which could have put our war
fighters at additional risk,ˇ¨ said Lev Kubiak, an Immigration and Customs
Enforcement agent in Buffalo.
None of those charged was in custody on Friday, authorities said. An arraignment
had not yet been scheduled.
Among those named in the indictment was Charles Wright, the owner of ESM Group
Inc in the Buffalo suburb of Amherst, who allegedly received the Chinese
magnesium and then sold it to Kilgore Flares.
Wright did not return telephone messages left at his home or business, which was
not named in the indictment.
Wright allegedly received the material from a Pennsylvania company, Superior
Metal Powders, via Qian Chen, of Beijing, as well as Buffalo-area importer
William Nehill and Nehillˇ¦s International Technology Group.
All were charged in the indictment, along with Superior employees Gregory
Magness and Justin Magness. Gregory Magness declined to comment when reached by
phone at his Pennsylvania home on Friday.
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