Microchip-brand micro-controllers are computer chips that could beused in

Tag : computer parts
The computer chips and other high-tech goods -- made in SouthFlorida and other regions of the country -- were used byIranian-controlled companies to make roadside bombs, federalofficials said. The chips play an integral role in triggering thebombs, known as improvised explosive devices, or IEDs.
The IEDs have been a major cause of death and injuries to U.S.soldiers fighting in Iraq.
''We cannot allow American-made goods to threaten our soldiersabroad,'' said U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta, who said that thepart numbers on the U.S.-made microchips matched those found onunexploded IEDs in Iraq.
Still, officials could not tie any of the illegal exports cited inthe Miami case to actual deaths on the battlefield.
The U.S.-based technology exporters were not identified in the13-count indictment. Acosta said that was because they were''tricked'' into selling their products to middleman companies thatactually were fronts for Iran. The corporations were based in theUnited Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Singapore, England and Germany.
None of the eight individuals -- who were indicted on the seventhanniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks -- has been arrested,but U.S. authorities will be seeking their extradition.
The indictment, unsealed Wednesday, spans 2004 through the present.It stems from an investigation led by the Commerce Department thatexposed a global network selling U.S.-made ''dual use'' goods toIran.
That is a violation of a federal prohibition on such export salesto that country, U.S. officials said. Dual use goods are softwareand technology products that are used for both commercial andmilitary purposes.
Mario Mancuso, undersecretary of Commerce for industry andsecurity, said a multiagency group including Immigration andCustoms Enforcement broke up a ''lethal international ring.'' Hesaid it was ``seeking to harm American and allied forces as well asinnocent civilians by acquiring sensitive U.S. technology capableof producing improvised explosive devices similar to those beingused in Iraq and Afghanistan.''
American officials have become increasingly alarmed in recent yearsabout dual use exports making their way into terrorists' hands.
In 2005, investigators found an American-made computer circuit inan unexploded roadside bomb in Iraq. Through serial numbers andshipping records, they traced the computer chip's path from itsmanufacturer in California to Mayrow General Trading in Dubai,according to an April New York Times article.
The chip manufacturer, AMD of Sunnyvale, Calif., cooperated withfederal investigators and said its customers are bound by contractsnot to re-export its products to Iran.
Mayrow General Trading was among the eight companies named in theMiami indictment Wednesday. Also charged were a German resident, aMalaysian resident and six natives of Iran living abroad.
The 16 foreign defendants were charged with conspiracy andviolations involving the Iran Trade Embargo, the IranianTransactions Regulations, the Export Administration Regulations andthe International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
Cited as illegal export sales in the indictment: 12,000 Microchipbrand micro-controllers, 5,000 integrated circuits and about 345global positioning systems.
Microchip-brand micro-controllers are computer chips that could beused in household electronics or to make IED triggers. No SouthFlorida companies were named in Wednesday's indictment, but fiveauthorized Microchip distributors have offices in Broward County.None of their representatives or a Microchip headquartersspokesperson could be reached for comment.
The indictment filed in Miami highlights what officials say aremajor national security issues -- the illegal pipeline ofelectronic parts from the United States to Iran, and Iran's supportof the Iraqi opposition.
Improvised explosive devices have killed 1,722 U.S. troops in Iraq,out of 4,159 U.S. troop deaths since the invasion began in March2003, according to icasualties.org, an independent website thatcompiles data from the Department of Defense.
Also Wednesday, the Treasury Department sanctioned six Iranianmilitary firms that are owned or controlled by entities previouslydesignated for their roles in Iran's nuclear and ballistic missileprograms. The designation aims to freeze the assets of suppliers ofweapons of mass destruction and isolate them from the U.S.financial system.
Miami Herald staff writer Evan S. Benn contributed to this report.