A South African citizen appeared in a New York court on Wednesday on charges of smuggling and trying to sell weapons to the United States, The Star newspaper reported.
Christiaan de Wet Spies (33) appeared along with 17 other alleged co-conspirators. They face up to 30 years’ imprisonment if found guilty.
Spies was arrested while trying to finalise a R13,2 million arms deal with an undercover FBI agent at a Manhattan hotel on Tuesday, the newspaper reported.
He was allegedly trying to sell former Eastern bloc and Russian anti-aircraft weapons, anti-tank rockets, rocket-propelled grenade launchers and semi-automatic machineguns to the undercover agent.
He was also charged with being in the US illegally.
According to the report, South African authorities have denied any knowledge of a South African arrested in the US.
National police spokesperson director Sally de Beer said she was unable to comment on the case or the individual in question.
The Department of Foreign affairs had no knowledge of Spies’ arrest while National Intelligence Agency spokesperson Lorna Daniels declined to comment, the Johannesburg paper reported. – Sapa