BLUE LANTERN BROKER INQUIRY - CASE NO. K-2488

UNCLAS WELLINGTON 000297 SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/ANP AND PM/DTCC E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ETTC KOMC NZ SUBJECT: BLUE LANTERN BROKER INQUIRY - CASE NO. K-2488 REF: 09 STATE 94793; A ¶1. (U) PolOff conducted a Blue Lantern inspection of Custom Aeronautical Support (CAS),Ltd. at 28B Moorhaus Avenue in Christchurch, New Zealand on 16 September, 2009 to verify the bona fides of broker Farooq (Greg) I. Gaba, case no. K-2488. CAS appears to be a legitimate business, and PolOff witnessed a current GNZ Civil Aviation Authority business license. ¶2. (U) Reftel lists CAS' business address as: Unit 3, 46 Maunsell Street, Woolston, Christchurch. The company still operates a warehouse at this location; however, its new headquarters is located at the Moorhaus Avenue address. The two facilities are a ten minute drive from each other. ¶3. (U) Mr. Farooq, CAS' sole proprietor, is a dual U.S./New Zealand citizen with an Electrical Engineering degree from the University of Southern California. The company primarily sells aviation components for Boeing, Airbus, Fokker, Hercules, and EuroCopter aircraft. Mr. Farooq stated that his company does not sell weapons of any type, and they do not sell night vision devices. Post has no derogatory information about this individual. ¶4. (U) CAS has been in business for four years and has 12 employees, all of whom normally work at the Moorhaus Avenue location. Most of the company's parts inventory is stored at the Maunsell Street warehouse, an unmanned 800 square meter structure that is locked and has a 24 hour alarm system. Any inventory stored at the Moorhaus Avenue facility is monitored by the warehouse technician or his backup during business hours. This facility is locked and an alarm system is activated at all other times. ¶5. (SBU) CAS' customers include civil aviation companies and government entities in New Zealand, Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Papua New Guinea. It also has a blanket export license to trade with Taiwan. According to Mr. Gaba, CAS does not do business with countries under U.S. or international export sanctions or with state sponsors of terrorism. He has been approached by Chinese companies but has found it too difficult to do business in that country. Mr. Farooq understands the restrictions on United States Munitions List items, especially the prohibition against unauthorized re-transfers and re-exports. CLARKE