BLUE LANTERN LEVEL 3: POST-LICENSE PRE-SHIPMENT CHECK ON

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CHENNAI 000134

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ETTC KOMC IN
SUBJECT: BLUE LANTERN LEVEL 3: POST-LICENSE PRE-SHIPMENT CHECK ON
LICENSE 05-050028972

REF: A) STATE 19666 B) JOUBERT-LIN/WOODARD E-MAILS


1. (SBU) Summary: Post does not recommend approval of this license.
Both the foreign consignee and end-user have been difficult or
impossible to contact, and much of the contact information on the
license check request is erroneous. The end-user has also been
evasive and non-cooperative. We have little confidence that either
the foreign consignee or the end-user is capable of safeguarding the
item in question or of preventing the item from being transferred to
a third party.

End-user evasive and non-cooperative
--------------


2. (SBU) We contacted the end-user (Vijay Babu) by telephone on
March 14, who told us that he has had the item for approximately two
months. (This contrasts with ref B, which indicates that the item
has not been shipped.) Babu expressed some discomfort when we asked
to meet with him at his place of business so that we could meet him
and see the equipment, even though we assured him this was a
standard procedure for certain equipment on the US Munitions List
(USML),a term he did not recognize. After receiving ref B, we
called Babu again to verify the shipment's status, and he again
confirmed his possession of the item. He appeared more helpful
during this telephone conversation, but said that he needed "a
couple of days for personal matters" before he would be able to meet
and show us the equipment.

Curious location
--------------


3. (SBU) We sent a driver to locate the Neera Technical Services
address (Plot 18-2-20, Rasool Pura, Begumpet, Secuderabad) listed in
ref A. After searching the neighborhood, the driver determined that
the address does not exist. The person who answered the company's
landline number (+91 40-65691144) stated "they" (presumably a
reference to the company) were not in the city, but provided a cell
phone number (+91 99-8564-7256) to contact. The man who answered
that number declined to provide the address of the company, but
agreed to meet at a nearby location.


4. (SBU) We then met that man, who identified himself as Ahmed
Basha. (Upon learning that the Consulate was involved, Basha showed
a police ID card and claimed to be a police officer.) He agreed to
take us to Neera's office. We accompanied him to his residence
(1-18-20 Gun Bazar, Rasool Pura, Begumpet, Secunderabad),where he
showed us a locked door on the third level of his building. Basha
said that Vijay Babu rents the apartment and runs Neera Technical
Services from there. We were not able to see the inside of the
apartment but Basha stated that the office contains a computer, fax
machine, telephone and desk. We asked Basha if he knew of any other
equipment located in the office; he replied that he did not know of
any other equipment. Basha stated that Babu was out of town and
would return sometime the following week.


5. (SBU) We spoke with Babu again on March 26. He told us he would
call us later that day to set up an appointment for an assistant to
show us the equipment in question, but he never called back. Since
then, we have had no success in contacting Babu, despite repeated
attempts. The first contact number, +91 40-65691144, is "switched
off" according to the voice recording. The other number for Babu
listed in ref A, a mobile number, (+91-9391173337),fails to connect
to anything other than a standard voice recording for an inoperable
number: "please check the number you have dialed."

Misleading information
--------------


6. (SBU) We asked the local telephone company to provide the address
for the primary telephone number for Neera (+91 40-65691144). The
telephone company told us that the address for that number is
7-340/1, Maruthi Nagar Vaishali Nagar - Post, Hyderabad. This
address corresponds to the Foreign Consignee's address in ref A, not
the address listed for Neera.

Unable to contact foreign consignee
--------------


7. (SBU) We were unable to contact the foreign consignee using the
contact information in ref A. The mobile phone is switched off.
The two landline numbers are currently not in use. Dialing the fax
number results simply in a busy signal. With an Internet search, we
found two businesses named "Sameer Electronics" in Hyderabad. We
spoke with both, who claimed to deal only in consumer electronics
components and finished goods, not the type of equipment that shows
up on the USML.

Recommendation: no license

CHENNAI 00000134 002 OF 002


--------------


8. (SBU) Given the difficulty of contacting both the end-user and
foreign consignee and the end-user's unwillingness to cooperate
fully, we recommend that this license be either denied or revoked,
as appropriate. We also recommend that both the foreign consignee
and end-user be prohibited from purchasing or transferring USML
items until we can establish their bona fides.


9. This message was coordinated with Embassy New Delhi and the RSO
posted in Hyderabad to prepare for the opening of a consulate
there.

HOPPER