Tamil Tigers—US Arrests

Eight individuals (some sources put it at 13^[1]) have been arrested by the FBI and charged with conspiring to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization, the Tamil Tigers.^[2]

The individuals were charged in two separate criminal complaints out of the Eastern District of New York.^[3]

In the first complaint, four of the defendants were arrested on Long Island, NY, over the weekend, “after three of them [allegedly] traveled to New York from Canada to attempt to purchase from an agent acting in an undercover capacity Russian-made SA-18 surface-to-air missiles, missile launchers, AK-47s and other weapons to be used by the LTTE in its rapidly escalating conflict against the Sri Lankan military.”^[4]

In the other complaint, multiple defendants have been charged “with providing material support to the LTTE that included the procurement of military equipment and dual use technology, fund raising and money laundering through "front" charitable organizations and U.S. bank accounts.”^[5]

The men “also are accused of plotting to bribe US State Department officials into removing the Tamil Tiger group” from the list of designated FTOs.^[6]

Only one of the suspects “was living in the United States,” and the group was made up of Canadian and Sri Lankan nationals.^[7] The one person among the group that is likely to receive the most attention is Nachimuthu Socrates, whose son’s name is Aristotle Socrates.^[8] The younger Socrates calls the charges “absurd” and that his father is innocent; “They’ve made a gross miscalculation,” he told CNN.^[9] The elder Socrates is implicated in the alleged scheme to bribe a state department official; according to the government, there were “at least five meetings [in which] the financial terms of the bribe were discussed.”^[10]

Three of the suspects are Canadian citizens, and they are allegedly seen in video surveillance hoisting missile launchers and asking about the speed of the aircraft which it could bring down.^[11]

The United States was not a target of the alleged plot.

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[1] See 13 Charged in US for Plotting to Buy Missiles for LTTE, ZeeNews.com (India), Aug. 22, 2006; Diane Struzzi, Simsbury Man Arrested for Part in Terrorist Conspiracy, Hartford Courant, Aug. 21, 2006.
[2] See US DOJ, 8 Defendants Arrested by FBI, Charged with Conspiring to Provide Material Support, Resources to Foreign Terrorist Organization, US Newswire, Aug. 21, 2006.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] Id.
[6] US Charges 8 over “Tiger Plot,” CNN, Aug. 22, 2006.
[7] Id.
[8] Id.
[9] Id.
[10] Struzzi, supra note 1.
[11] Adrian Humphreys et al., Terror Probe Nabs “Tigers,” National Post (via Canada.com), Aug. 22, 2006.