Chinese ring has been smuggling US drone and missile tech to Iran

[DJ Spanky]

If they ever get these people, they deserve a bullet to the head.

$15M reward announced for alleged Chinese ringleader, others accused of smuggling US drone technology to Iran

It's been going on for quite a while.

The FBI on Wednesday shared a wanted poster for Chinese national Baoxia "Emily" Liu, adding that the State Department is offering a reward of up to $15 million for information on her and others accused of smuggling U.S. drone weapons to Iran.

Liu and three other fellow Chinese nationals were charged by President Joe Biden's Justice Department in January 2024 in an alleged years-long conspiracy in which they unlawfully exported and smuggled U.S. export-controlled items through China and Hong Kong to entities affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL), which supervises production of Tehran's missiles, weapons, and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).

Beginning as early as 2007, Liu and her associates "allegedly utilized an array of front companies in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to send dual-use U.S.-origin electronic components to IRGC-linked companies that could be used in the production of UAVs, ballistic missile systems, and other military end uses," the State Department said, noting the IRGC and its supporters "generate and move millions of dollars around the world by establishing and relying on front companies to procure cutting-edge technology to evade sanctions and trade controls."