SAM News Leak Blows Big Opportunity
While publicly congratulating themselves over the bust of an international arms dealer in an alleged plot to sell Russian-made surface-to-air missiles, top Justice Department officials are privately fuming over a premature news leak that may have blown a rare opportunity to penetrate Al Qaedaâs arms-buying network. The FBIâs arrest of London-based arms dealer Hemant Lakhani, 68, at a hotel room near Newark Liberty International Airport this week was supposed to be only an interim step in what officials hoped would be a far more meaningful long-term operation, law-enforcement sources said. The bureauâs plan was to quickly flip Lakhani, a British citizen of Indian extraction, and then use him as an undercover informant who could lead agents to real-life Osama bin Laden operatives seeking sophisticated weapons. But those plans went awry late Tuesday afternoon when somebody blabbed the Feds learned that the BBC was about to broadcast a sensational report on Lakhaniâs arrest by one of its star correspondents, Tom Mangold. The BBC story, based on an apparent leak from a law-enforcement source, had some key details wrong. For one thing, it falsely claimed that the arms dealerâs attempted sale of a shoulder-fired SA-18 missile and launder was part of a plot by terrorists to shoot down Air Force Oneâa target that never actually came up in the discussions.
They were just sexing it up a little. Happens all the time... | But even so, U.S. law-enforcement sources tell NEWSWEEK, the damage was done. The FBI had to abort its plan to recruit Lakhani as an informant and instead charged him today in federal court in Newark, N.J., with weapons smuggling and with providing material support to terrorists. Also arrested in the case were two alleged confederatesâa New York City jeweler and a Malaysian businessmanâwho were charged with conspiring to operate an unlicensed money-transfer business.
Posted by: Paul Moloney 2003-08-14 |