ARMS DEALS AND THE ISRAELI CONNECTION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000100110051-6
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 5, 2012
• Sequence Number: 51
• Publication Date: November 25, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/09/05: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100110051-6
WASHINGTON POST
25 November 1986
JACK ANDERSON and JOSEPH SPEAR
Arms Deals and the Israeli Connection
t should have been no surprise that Israel was
the middleman used by the Reagan
administration for its secret shipment of
weapons to Iran. For years the Israelis have been
up to their shoulder holsters in the murky world of
international arms traffic.
Purchase orders, bills of lading and other
documents obtained by our associates Corky
Johnson and Donald Goldberg relating to Central
Intelligence Agency "front" corporations show a
mysterious Israeli thread woven through weapons
deals conducted by the CIA.
In 1969 the CIA set up a front called Associated
Traders, which funneled millions of dollars though
the First National Bank of Maryland to pay for huge
arms shipments. Two weapons brokerage firms,
Sherwood International Export Corp. and Shimon
Ltd., handled the transactions for the CIA.
Shipping papers show that several of these arms
shipments originated in Israel. Sherwood has had a
close working relationship with Israeli defense
officials, our sources said, and several former
Israeli military officers have worked for the
company.
Shimon is a Cayman Islands company believed to
he associated with Sherwood but little is known
about it. Michael Kokin, president of Sherwood, did
not return our telephone calls.
One interesting CIA arms shipment handled by
Shimon in 1982 can be traced from the Israeli
Mediterranean port of Ashdod to Lagos, Nigeria,
where the trail ended. The CIA reportedly operates
an air cargo service out of Lagos, and may have
delivered the $4 million in weapons to
U.S.-supported rebel groups, including those
fighting in Angola.
The Israeli shipment was part of a $9.4 million
transaction in which Shimon sent weapons to Lagos
from several locations, including Portugal, the
former colonial power in Angola. Portugal is a
major transshipment point for arms; some of the
U.S. shipments to Iran went by way of Portugal,
according to our sources.
In another CIA arms deal, the agency's front
company, Associated Traders, received 57 radio
transceivers manufactured in Israel. The units,
which cost $128,250, were purchased by Sherwood
and flown from Tel Aviv to Washington-Dulles
International Airport.
In 1984, Sherwood and an Israeli shipping firm,
Merico, were involved in a little-publicized incident
after Italian officials seized the Merico freighter
Viking, which was loaded with weapons that they
feared were destined for the Red Brigades
terrorists.
Merico told the Italians that the ship's cargo was
headed for Brazil in a deal arranged by Sherwood.
Brazilian officials at first denied they were
importing the arms, but later said they had
contracted with Sherwood for the weapons.
According to court papers, Sherwood was
recently stopped by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco
and Firearms (BATE) from importing 17,000
frames for Browning .30-cal. machine guns. The
seller was the Israeli Defense Ministry. Sherwood
executives said they wanted to assemble the
machine guns for sale to "friendly foreign
governments."
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/09/05: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100110051-6