Federal authorities charged six people and three companies Friday with importing substandard magnesium powder from China into the United States, where officials say it got into the Defense Department's arsenal but was discovered before being used in combat or exercises.
The powder was used to make 1.8 million "countermeasure" flares, worth $42 million, that are used by military aircraft to divert heat-seeking missiles. Officials said that none made it onto aircraft before being quarantined, and that all will be destroyed.
"Heaven forbid the measures would not have worked if a pilot was under direct attack by a missile and this was his or her last line of defense," U.S. Attorney William Hochul said.
A grand jury indictment outlined an elaborate scheme that allowed defendants — who hail from New York, Pennsylvania and China — not only to benefit from a lucrative defense contract, but also to avoid steep tariffs meant to protect the American magnesium industry.
The Chinese-made magnesium was mixed with aluminum nuggets and mislabeled when it entered the country in sealed drums through ports in Los Angeles and Washington, investigators said, so that it would not be subject to a 306 percent duty.
Once inside the United States, the quarter-inch aluminum nuggets were sifted out and the magnesium sold to an unknowing defense contractor, Kilgore Flares, investigators said.
By: Brant
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