A California Man named Rasheed Al Jijakli has been arrested for procuring and illegally exporting laser bore sighters, rifle scopes, and other tactical equipment from the U.S. to Syria. According to the U.S Justice Department website, Rasheed is the C.E.O of an Orange County check-cashing business. Investigators have said that his acts went against the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
Rasheed's criminal acts
According to the U.S Justice Department website, investigators accuse Rasheed and three others of buying and illegally exporting controlled items from the U.S to Syria.
His export business was done without obtaining a license from the U.S Department of Commerce. Rasheed sent the items to Istanbul, Turkey in July 2012 and then smuggled them to Syria. The items included night-vision scopes, rifle equipment, a Bulletproof Vest, torches, radios, and other equipment.
If found guilty, Al Jijakli might be imprisoned for a maximum of 50 years. He is however innocent until found guilty.
The FBI was investigating this case together with U.S. Immigration and Customs, Homeland Security, Export Enforcement, and IRS.
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA)
The IEEPA was enacted on October 28, 1977. The act authorizes the U.S president to regulate trade after a foreign threat against the U.S has been identified.
In 2009, Credit Suisse was found guilty of assisting residents of IEEPA sanctioned nations wire money. The U.S also held property of persons who were believed to have caused a deterioration of security in Somalia in 2010. In 2011, the property of officials associated with former Libyan president Muammar Gaddafi. The act has been effected in other countries such as Burundi, Venezuela, Sudan, Yemen, and Russia.
People previously arrested for supporting a foreign terrorist group
On July 22 NBC news reported that a 34-year-old U.S Army officer was arrested for planning to provide material support to ISIS. According to the report, the officer worked as an air traffic control operator in Hawai. Court documents showed that the officer was being investigated for nearly one year before he was arrested.
The officer, who served in Iraq in 2010 and Afganistan in 2014, faces up to 20 years for planning to provide ISIS with classified military training documents.
On July 21 the Mercury News reported that a 22-year-old man from Oakland was charged for supporting ISIS. According to that report, investigators allege that Amer Sinan Alhaggagi attempted to assist ISIS from July to November of 2016. Investigators suspect that Amer tried to open social media accounts that would be used to assist ISIS.
