BLUE LANTERN PRE-LICENSE END-USE CHECK ON LICENSE

UNCLAS MEXICO 003689 SENSITIVE SIPDIS FOR PM/DTCC - BLUE LANTERN COORDINATOR, WHA/MEX, AND INL/LP E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ETTC KOMC SNAR MX SUBJECT: BLUE LANTERN PRE-LICENSE END-USE CHECK ON LICENSE 050126003 REF: STATE 109750 ¶1. (SBU) Poloff met with President Mauricio Natale and his assistant, Jose Eduardo Llanos, of Blindajes Mexicanos S.A. de C.V. (whose commercial name is Global Armor) November 25 about the end-use check on license 050126003 (reftel). Natale confirmed the order for steel armor plates from Astralloy Steel Products and said the purpose of the contract was to armor 20 SUVs for use by Mexican federal judges. Natale told Poloff that Blindajes Mexicanos has been involved in these kinds of sales since 1996. He indicated that Blindajes Mexicanos had all the documentation necessary for the transaction. He also said that he fully understands that the items from the U.S. source, Astralloy Steel Products in Birmingham, Alabama, are not to be re-transfered or re-exported. He affirmed that Blindajes Mexicanos has secure facilities and proper accounting (ISO 9001) and security procedures. ¶2. (SBU) Natale emphasized that all sales by Blindajes Mexicanos of armored vehicles are registered with the Ministry of Public Safety (SSP). He said that each customer must present its RFC (tax identification number that notes the registered location of the business),in order to generate a factura (legal receipt for goods and services in Mexico that can be used for business expenses or for deductions). Natale stressed that if anything were amiss, his company would suspend the sale and alert the proper authorities. Both Natale and Llanos said that their company would not risk its reputation by selling to questionable companies. ¶3. (SBU) Natale and Llanos told Poloff that their company had no ill-intention in naming the same end-user on multiple purchase orders. Rather, this occurred because Blindajes Mexicanos often supplies multiple armored vehicles to a single end user. They said that the company also had applied for an export licence for steel plates from Astrolloy Steel Products for 30 trucks for Grupo Mercurio for armored cash transportation, and that they would like to apply for another license to supply 60 vehicles to another part of the Government of Mexico (GOM). They said their company would like to make these purchases from Astrolloy because of the high quality of the plates, but signaled that with delays in the export licensing process, Blindajes Mexicanos might have to look to European or other suppliers as it has done in the past. They mentioned that for single sales, it was more practical to supply the plates purchased from other countries, but for larger contracts they still would like to purchase their plates from the U.S. They said that they were willing to resubmit their request for the license if necessary to fulfill their contract with the Mexican federal judiciary to armor 20 vehicles. ¶4. (SBU) Poloff has not/not been able to confirm the order for Blindajes Mexicanos to armor 20 vehicles with Santiago Solano, Director of Administration at the Federal Judicial Branch's Council of Judgeship, the end-user for license ¶050126003. In a meeting with Poloff December 15, Solano indicated that the Council has acquired armored vehicles since 2002 from only two companies, Blindajes Alemanes and Epel Blindajes, neither of which appear to be affiliated with Blindajes Mexicanos. Visit Mexico City's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/mexicocity and the North American Partnership Blog at http://www.intelink.gov/communities/state/nap / GARZA