Sierra Leonean arrested in New York with uranium

Prosecutors in the United States have charged a Sierra Leonean, Patrick Campbell after allegedly trying to sell 1,000 tons of the toxic yellowcake uranium to undercover agents. He appeared at a U.S. District Court in Brooklyn on Thursday 22 August 2013. The 33-year-old was arrested on Wednesday at the John F Kennedy Airport in New York after allegedly travelling to the U.S. via Paris from Freetown with a sample of uranium hidden in the soles of his shoes and in his luggage. According to the UK Daily Mail and The Times of India, Campbell thought the material would be shipped to Iran, after falling for the sting. He was arrested Wednesday He is alleged to have responded to an advertisement in May last year on the Alibaba.com website purportedly seeking to purchase uranium. A Homeland Security Investigations agent, Louis Miller says that the advert was apparently placed by a US undercover agent who posed as an American dealer representing persons in Iran. It led to Campbell agreeing to travel to Miami to meet the supposed buyer. Campbell faces up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine if he is found guilty of violating US sanctions against Iran. He is said to be affiliated with a company engaged in mining and selling of uranium, gold, and diamonds for export. After his arrest, Campbell allegedly admitted to agents that he had engaged in talks for "a contract for the sale of uranium to be delivered to Iran," the complaint said. When confronted, he is also said to have admitted to bringing a sample of the raw uranium ore with him concealed in his luggage and he assisted the agents in “removing the Uranium from beneath the inside soles of his shoes and plastic bags containing Uranium were recovered from two of Campbell's shoes," according to the complaint. A contract for the sale and delivery of the uranium was also found on a portable thumb drive in Campbell's possession, reports The Times India. © Politico Online 23/08/13