Cablegate: Lem Supply Company President Details On-Line Sales

VZCZCXYZ0003
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHKO #2127 2170710
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 040710Z AUG 08
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6304
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 4712
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL PRIORITY 0701
RUEHGP/AMEMBASSY SINGAPORE PRIORITY 7201
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG PRIORITY 6561
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI PRIORITY 7100

UNCLAS TOKYO 002127

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

PM/DTC FOR BLUE LANTERN COORDINATOR

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ETTC KOMC JA
SUBJECT: LEM SUPPLY COMPANY PRESIDENT DETAILS ON-LINE SALES
OF CONTROLLED ITEMS

REF: A. 07 STATE 118433
B. 07 TOKYO 3499
C. 07 TOKYO 4831

1. (SBU) EconOff visited LEM Supply Co. President Yada July
28 to brief him on the Blue Lantern end use check program and
to urge complicity with the U.S. laws and regulations
concerning equipment governed by the International Traffic in
Arms Regulations (ITAR). The company's address is 8-13-32
Fukazawa, Setagaya-Ku Tokyo.

2. (SBU) Yada told EconOff his primary buyers are air gun
enthusiasts and that he sells most of his products on-line,
using his own Web site as well as the Japanese version of
Yahoo auction. His Web site addresses are: www.lem-shop.com
and www.tulliani-shop.com. He said all his buyers have had
addresses in Japan, but that some could have been foreigners.
Yada said he had not known about the Blue Lantern program,
USML, ITAR or the Wassenaar Arrangement which governs
international sales of defense and dual-use articles.

3. (SBU) Yada said he had sold weapons sights (including the
EOTech holographic site) and pointed to an image of an AR-15
hand guard noting he had bought a few of them and sold them
on the Internet. He indicated he understands export licenses
are required for some items. While Yada conceded later in
the conversation that he sold USML controlled items on Yahoo
auction, he initially stated that he had bought only T-shirts
from a U.S. citizen who was recently indicted in the U.S. for
illicitly exporting defense articles. Yada then said he had
no records and could not be certain of the value of his
transactions with the indicted individual.

4. (SBU) Yada noted that Japan has its own strict weapons
controls and told EconOff Japan's Customs or National Police
Agency and would have stopped the shipments had Yada tried to
import weapons accessories such as flash suppressers or butt
stocks through the mail. He said the items he sold on-line
had been hand-carried into Japan in the luggage of a U.S.
citizen. He acknowledged that the U.S. citizen might be in
trouble, but said he (Yada) had not violated any laws and so
had nothing to worry about.

5. (SBU) Yada said he sometimes sells items to Japanese
police and Ministry of Defense officials. He said he plans
to purchase body armor from U.S. sources for resale to the
police and understands he will be required to complete
paperwork for licensing from the U.S. Government to do so.
He said he had never worked with a U.S. exporter who had
applied for an export license.

6. (SBU) Yada at times contradicted himself. For example,
while he said he had done nothing wrong, he noted Japanese
Customs would not have admitted the weapons accessories that
he had imported -- he said, brought into Japan by someone
carrying them in a suitcase and subsequently sold on-line.
He also first said he had sold only T-shirts but later said
he had sold AR15 hand guards, a USML controlled item.

SCHIEFFER

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