Indonesian Marine General Admits to Arms Trafficking: Wotulo

In September, federal customs agents arrested six South Asian arms dealers who were accused of paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to ship restricted, high-tech weapons to rebels in Sri Lanka and the Indonesian Army.^[1]

Erick Wotulo, a retired Indonesian Marine Corps general, pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization and money laundering.^[2] According to his plea agreement, Wotulo conspired with others to export firearms, ammunition, surface-to-air missiles, night-vision goggles and other military weapons and gear to the Tamil Tigers.^[3]

An elaborate arms trafficking sting was set-up in Baltimore last year, where federal agents put up a Singapore arms broker at an Inner Harbor hotel and took him to a shooting range in Harford County so he could test-fire the machine guns.^[4] He met with Wotulo and confirmed a meeting in Guam where the arms would be readied for shipment. Wotulo was arrested in Guam when he, with his associates and the undercover agents, arranged for the weapons to be loaded onto a ship destined for the Tamil Tigers.^[5]

Wotulo faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison for conspiracy to provide material support to a terrorist group and a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for money laundering. U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake scheduled sentencing for May 25, 2007.^[6]

Money laundering is crime that can be accomplished in three different ways.^[7]

The first is for a person “knowing that the property involved in a financial transaction represents the proceeds of some form of unlawful activity” to conduct or attempt to conduct such a financial transaction which in fact involves the proceeds of an unlawful activity, with the intent; to promote the carrying on of specified unlawful activity;^[8]or to engage in conduct constituting a violation 26 U.S.C. §§ 7201 or 7206 (relating to the Internal Revenue Code);^[9] or knowing that the transaction is designed in whole or in part to; conceal or disguise the nature, the location, the source, the ownership, or the control of the proceeds of specified unlawful activity;^[10]or to avoid a transaction reporting requirement under State or Federal law.^[11]

The second way a person can violate section 1956, is for a person to transport, transmit, or transfer, (or attempt to transport, transmit, or transfer) a monetary instrument or funds from a place in the United States to or through a place outside the United States or to a place in the United States from or through a place outside the United States, with the intent to promote the carrying on of specified unlawful activity;^[12] or knowing that the monetary instrument or funds involved in the transportation represent the proceeds of some form of unlawful activity and knowing that such transportation, transmission, or transfer is designed in whole or in part, to conceal or disguise the nature, the location, the source, the ownership, or the control of the proceeds of specified unlawful activity;^[13] or to avoid a transaction reporting requirement under State or Federal law.^[14]

The third and final way to violate section 1956 is for a person to have the intent to promote the carrying on of specified unlawful activity;^[15] conceal or disguise the nature, location, source, ownership, or control of property believed to be the proceeds of specified unlawful activity;^[16] or avoid a transaction reporting requirement under State or Federal law,^[17] and conduct or attempt to conduct a financial transaction involving property represented to be the proceeds of specified unlawful activity, or property used to conduct or facilitate specified unlawful activity.^[18]

We have previously discussed the crime of providing material support to a terrorist group here.

The crime of arms trafficking has been previously discussed here.

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^[1] Matthew Dolan, Man Admits Arms Trafficking, Baltimore Sun, February 24, 2007.
^[2] Id.
^[3] A group seeking a homeland for ethnic Tamils within the nation of Sri Lanka; the Tigers have been designated a terrorist organization in the U.S. since 1997. Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act states that the Secretary of State “is authorized to designate an organization as a foreign terrorist organization … if the Secretary finds that:” 1)the organization is foreign; 2)the organization engages in terrorist activity, in terrorism, or retains the capability and intent to engage in terrorist activity or terrorism; and 3) the terrorist activity or terrorism of the organization threatens the security of the US nationals or the national security of the U.S. 8 U.S.C. § 1189 (2006).
^[4] Id.
^[5] Id.
^[6] Id.
^[7] 18 U.S.C. §§ 1956, 1957 (2007).
^[8] 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(1)(A)(i).
^[9] Id. § 1956(a)(1)(A)(ii).
^[10] Id. § 1956(a)(1)(B)(i).
^[11] Id. § 1956(a)(1)(B)(ii).
^[12] Id. § 1956(a)(2)(A).
^[13] Id. § 1956(a)(2)(B)(i).
^[14] Id. § 1956(a)(2)(B)(ii).
^[15] Id. § 1956(a)(3)(A).
^[16] Id. § 1956(a)(3)(B).
^[17] Id. § 1956(a)(3)(C).
^[18] Id. § 1956(a)(3).