Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06LAPAZ3378
2006-12-15 16:11:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy La Paz
Cable title:
PRE-LICENSE CHECK COMPLETED, APPLICATION NUMBER
how-toVZCZCXYZ0031 RR RUEHWEB DE RUEHLP #3378 3491611 ZNR UUUUU ZZH R 151611Z DEC 06 FM AMEMBASSY LA PAZ TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1656 INFO RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO 2103 RUEPINS/HQ BICE INTEL WASHINGTON DC 0487 RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
UNCLAS LA PAZ 003378
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR EB/ESP AND WHA/AND LPETRONI
SAO PAOLO FOR ICE ATTACHE AND FCS FCARRICO
ICE HQ FOR STRATEGIC INVESTIGATIONS
USDOC FOR 3134 FOR FCS/OIO MKESHISHIAN
USDOC ALSO FOR OEA/532 MNICKSON-DORSEY AND KGAINES
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: BEXP ETRD ETTC BL
SUBJECT: PRE-LICENSE CHECK COMPLETED, APPLICATION NUMBER
D366011
REF: USDOC 6438
UNCLAS LA PAZ 003378
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR EB/ESP AND WHA/AND LPETRONI
SAO PAOLO FOR ICE ATTACHE AND FCS FCARRICO
ICE HQ FOR STRATEGIC INVESTIGATIONS
USDOC FOR 3134 FOR FCS/OIO MKESHISHIAN
USDOC ALSO FOR OEA/532 MNICKSON-DORSEY AND KGAINES
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: BEXP ETRD ETTC BL
SUBJECT: PRE-LICENSE CHECK COMPLETED, APPLICATION NUMBER
D366011
REF: USDOC 6438
1. (SBU) Reftel requested a pre-license check on
Riberalta-based Comercial Safari, a Bolivian firm seeking to
import various brands and powers of hunting and sport
shooting scopes from Ohio-based Outdoor Sports Headquarters,
Inc.
2. (SBU) At post's request, two police investigators
attempted to locate the company December 8 but could find no
bona fide business; as indicated in the investigators'
photograph, the buildings on the 900 block of Chuquisaca
Avenue (the address listed on the license application) were
abandoned wooden shacks. Comercial Safari proprietor Hernan
Roca explained December 12 that he had moved to a new
location "a few months ago" and provided a new address,
saying the business was "a little store" just in front of his
house.
3. (SBU) Investigators visited the firm's new location
December 13 and 14 but were told Roca was in Santa Cruz on
business and would not return until December 19. The store
measured approximately 12 x 18 feet and contained a few
flashlights, some fishing items, and several shotguns and .22
rifles.
4. (SBU) Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) staff raised questions
about the quantity of scopes Roca planned to purchase, noting
that 500 seemed an unusually high number for a town of only
35,000 people. They also wondered where Roca might have
obtained the $30,000 needed for the purchase, pointing out
that even the relatively small sum represented a lot of money
for Riberalta, a village surviving primarily on income from
rubber and Brazil nut plantations.
5. (SBU) Recommendation: Given the absence of a bona fide
business at the address listed on the license application,
the difficulty of locating the firm's proprietor, the
appearance of the store itself, and the questions raised by
DEA, post recommends that the Department of Commerce consider
Comercial Safari an unsuitable recipient of sensitive
U.S.-origin commodities.
GOLDBERG
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR EB/ESP AND WHA/AND LPETRONI
SAO PAOLO FOR ICE ATTACHE AND FCS FCARRICO
ICE HQ FOR STRATEGIC INVESTIGATIONS
USDOC FOR 3134 FOR FCS/OIO MKESHISHIAN
USDOC ALSO FOR OEA/532 MNICKSON-DORSEY AND KGAINES
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: BEXP ETRD ETTC BL
SUBJECT: PRE-LICENSE CHECK COMPLETED, APPLICATION NUMBER
D366011
REF: USDOC 6438
1. (SBU) Reftel requested a pre-license check on
Riberalta-based Comercial Safari, a Bolivian firm seeking to
import various brands and powers of hunting and sport
shooting scopes from Ohio-based Outdoor Sports Headquarters,
Inc.
2. (SBU) At post's request, two police investigators
attempted to locate the company December 8 but could find no
bona fide business; as indicated in the investigators'
photograph, the buildings on the 900 block of Chuquisaca
Avenue (the address listed on the license application) were
abandoned wooden shacks. Comercial Safari proprietor Hernan
Roca explained December 12 that he had moved to a new
location "a few months ago" and provided a new address,
saying the business was "a little store" just in front of his
house.
3. (SBU) Investigators visited the firm's new location
December 13 and 14 but were told Roca was in Santa Cruz on
business and would not return until December 19. The store
measured approximately 12 x 18 feet and contained a few
flashlights, some fishing items, and several shotguns and .22
rifles.
4. (SBU) Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) staff raised questions
about the quantity of scopes Roca planned to purchase, noting
that 500 seemed an unusually high number for a town of only
35,000 people. They also wondered where Roca might have
obtained the $30,000 needed for the purchase, pointing out
that even the relatively small sum represented a lot of money
for Riberalta, a village surviving primarily on income from
rubber and Brazil nut plantations.
5. (SBU) Recommendation: Given the absence of a bona fide
business at the address listed on the license application,
the difficulty of locating the firm's proprietor, the
appearance of the store itself, and the questions raised by
DEA, post recommends that the Department of Commerce consider
Comercial Safari an unsuitable recipient of sensitive
U.S.-origin commodities.
GOLDBERG