jupiter z

[mike j]

see below. according to the dates offered here, the
two lithuanian creeps that were busted trying to see
nukes to u.s. customs are already out of jail. d'ya
think they mighta gotten a call from kabul in the
meantime?

	

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/russia/scenario/

In March 1995, US Customs agents in Miami launched a
two-year undercover investigation reaching into
high-level official circles in Russia, Bulgaria and
Lithuania. It would become the first credible case of
a scenario to smuggle tactical nuclear weapons into
the United States. 

It began when an ethnic Russian from Lithuania, with
known links to the Russian mafia, offered to ship
luxury vehicles stolen in Florida back to former
Soviet bloc countries. Unknown to him, he was talking
to an undercover cop posing as a member of a Colombian
drug cartel.

To the surprise of the agents who were secretly taping
the conversations, the Lithuanian, Alexandr
Pogrebevskij, soon upped the ante. He offered to
procure Soviet-made military weapons and brought in
his partner, Alexander Darichev, who had the contacts
in Russia who could broker a deal for arms. Darichev,
a veteran of the Lithuanian military and also an
ethnic Russian, opened a briefcase filled with shiny
brochures from a company in Bulgaria called Armimex
which was licensed to manufacture Soviet weapons. It
had everything from automatic rifles to
shoulder-to-air missiles that could shoot down jet
planes. The undercover U.S.agents said they would go
for the missiles. 


Then came the bombshell. If that missile deal went
through, asked the Lithuanians, was there interest in
small nuclear devices? The undercover cops said they
would be very interested. They nicknamed this new deal
"Project 2" and agreed to put it off until the missile
deal was concluded. 

US Customs set up a front company called Phoenix
International and proceeded with a plan to buy 40
"Stinger-type" Russian missiles. By now, the meetings
were frequent and the negotiations sophisticated. From
the beginning, the Lithuanians emphasized that the
deal had to look legitimate. So they set up super
secret accounts in off-shore companies to handle the
money -- they had a document from a company called
OCRA on the Isle of Mann rumored by confidential
sources to have connections to international arms
dealers. 

Then they managed to get an authentic end-user
certificate from the Lithuanian minister of defense
saying that the missiles were intended for the
military forces of the Republic of Lithuania.The arms
company Armimex could only sell these kinds of weapons
to a government. (But of course, the undercover cops'
story was that the real end user in this sting
operation was to be a Colombian cartel that wanted the
missiles to shoot down U.S. DEA helicopters.) 

All this made U.S. Customs suspicious that the two
Lithuanians had contacts reaching into high government
offices (read the interview with U.S. Customs official
Michael Turner). In a meeting in London, wiretapped by
Scotland Yard, Darichev made calls to a man named
Valerii Donitzovich at a mysterious scientific
institute in St. Petersburg. Donitzovich said he had
contacts with then Russian defense minister Pavel
Grachev. Grachev was described to FRONTLINE by one top
U.S. law enforcement official as being "bigtime
corrupt." 

"Jupiter Z" -- as the institute was called -- was part
of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, Section of
Geopolitics and Security, and is known for its ties to
former military and KGB officials. This scientific
technical center was suspected by U.S. Customs to be
the shadow broker for the missiles and the nukes.


>From the beginning of this two year odyssey, the
undercover cops and the Lithuanians were suspicious of
each other. Could the Lithuanians really deliver the
weapons? Were the agents working for a drug cartel?
Fears heightened when the customs agents intercepted a
letter from Jupiter Z to Darichev warning Darichev
that the men he was dealing with might be FBI or CIA
agents. But the two sides continued to deal, and a
$50,000 downpayment was made.

In the meantime, for more than a year this case was
the subject of high-level meetings in Washington
involving all the agencies concerned with a possible
nuclear smuggling incident -- the FBI, the CIA, NSC,
State, DOD and DOE. With the support of their bosses
at Treasury, U.S. Customs in Miami wanted to continue
the investigation to find out who in Russia was really
involved (read the interview with agent Keith
Praeger.) But there was substantial skepticism from
some quarters and resistance to expanding the
investigation. U.S. agents are not permitted to go
undercover overseas without the signoff of other
intelligence agencies. And if they notified the
Russian or Lithuanian governments, possible
co-conspirators in the Russian or Lithuanaian military
would just cover their tracks. 

Even more important, according to confidential
sources, is the fact that U.S. national security
policy prohibits any sting operation that might bring
nuclear devices or material onto American soil. So, in
the end, Washington pressured Miami to wrap up their
case.

After one final video-taped undercover meeting in 1997
at the Hampton Inn in Miami, agents arrested and
indicted Pogrebevskij and Darichev. The U.S. District
Court indictment also named "Jupiter Z" and the
Russian Academy of Natural Sciences for "conspiring to
locate and negotiate the source of weapons of mass
destruction." 

After the arrest, Darichev cooperated with the U.S.
Attorney and made monitored calls to Armimex
confirming that 40 shoulder-to-air missiles were
indeed waiting to be shipped to Phoenix Arms
International. The Justice Department also determined
that the Lithuanian end-user certificate actually had
been signed by a former minister of defense who has
since stepped down.

Alexander Darichev and Alexandr Pogrebevskij were
convicted on charges of smuggling, money laundering
and conspiracy. They are each serving 48 months in a
federal penitentiary.



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