President of Counterterrorism Firm Arrested for Possessing Unregistered Missiles

Published: Aug 17, 2002

 

ROSWELL, N.M. (AP) - The president of a counterterrorism consulting firm has been charged with possessing 2,352 unregistered small military missiles worth $54 million, according to court documents.

David Hudak, a Canadian national and president of High Energy Access Tools, an anti-terrorism and police training services company, was arrested Thursday, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court Friday.

Frank Fish, director of security for HEAT, said after the arrest that the company had believed it was licensed to have appropriate equipment to train U.S. allies and export them to allied nations, but later found out the permit was not filed. He did not specifically mention the missiles.

Fish also said the company invited agencies to inspect the Roswell and Tinnie sites because HEAT wanted to be sure it was compliant.

"We've been open to every federal agency that could have anything to do with anything about what we do for a living, from the FBI, ATF, Department of State, everybody," Fish told the Roswell Daily Record. "We contacted everybody, saying please come on down."

The complaint, obtained by The Albuquerque Tribune for a story in its Saturday editions, said agents discovered the missiles in 49 explosives crates, with each crate containing 48 missiles which are worth $23,040 apiece.

The complaint referred to the missiles' official designation as the M141 Bunker Defeat Munition.

Hudak was arrested Thursday by immigration agents at the company's training facility, according to the complaint, which also said Hudak was a Canadian national in the United States illegally.

Hudak was charged with possessing missiles that were not registered to him in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record.

Norm Cairns, spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Albuquerque, told the Tribune the investigation was ongoing but declined to comment further.

Cairns didn't return a message left by The Associated Press and no one answered the telephone at HEAT on Saturday. There was no telephone listing for Fish or Hudak.

According to the complaint, the military warheads are designed to defeat light armored vehicles or bunkers and are fired from shoulder-mounted infantry weapons. No launching devices for the missiles were found, according to the complaint.

Agents of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms searched company facilities Thursday in Roswell and in Tinnie, about 45 miles to the west.

HEAT is a defense contractor and specialty training company that sells "surgical breaching explosives," used usually in SWAT scenarios, among other things.


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