LEM SUPPLY COMPANY PRESIDENT DETAILS ON-LINE SALES

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