Alex Trelinski
THE Guardia Civil has busted a Malaga-based company that smuggled military equipment out of Spain, with the items ending up in Saudi Arabia.
The goods- worth €2.8 million- included engines and spare parts for tanks and armoured personnel carriers.
One person- the company owner- has been arrested and another is being investigated.
The illegal exports lacked the necessary transfer licenses from the Spanish trade authorities, so they were fraudulently declared as spare parts for civilian trucks.
The investigation revealed that, in addition to supplying engines and military spare parts, the Malaga company also provided technical assistance to carry out the modernisation of numerous armoured vehicles of the Saudi Arabian Armed Forces.
These vehicles were later used in the war in Yemen in contravention of United Nations Security Council resolutions.
International trade in defence equipment and dual-use materiel is strictly controlled.
In order to legally export from Spain, companies must be registered in a special registry of the Ministry of Commerce and have a licence for each of their export consignments.
Any applications also needed the the approval of the Interministerial Regulatory Board for the Control of Foreign Trade in Defence and Dual-Use Material (JIMDDU)- a collegiate body of the Government of which the Guardia Civil is a member.
The objective is to stop materials being illegally diverted to countries in conflict or in countries of concern.
The procedures also guarantee the protection of the general interests of national defence and Spain’s foreign policy as well as compliance with international embargoes and international commitments undertaken by the country.
The Guardia operation not only stopped the Malaga company from continuing to illegally export military materials without any type of control by the Spanish authorities, but also to prevent items being diverted to armed conflicts, such as the one in Yemen; or to other countries in the Middle East.
