The Associated Press is reporting that the feds will return the 75 million rounds of ammo seized from Eagle Exim. on 3 May. In return Eagle Exim has agreed not to file suit.
The seizure was based on information given by a ``confidential informant'' a year ago. No wrongdoing on Eagle Exim's part was found.
Taxpayers will be picking up the tab for the seizure and return. No word on the cost yet.
Date: Thu, 15 Jun 1995 23:49:03 -0400
Subject: NRA-TV summary 6/14/95
[...]
Simone: About the ammo seizure, in my interview with the Eagle Exim President, he said the BATF would not let us alone, they kept coming back and looking and looking for something on us, when there was nothing wrong. This appears to be the way it is working with a lot of these federal busts. A major issue is that there was no preliminary investigation. [In fact they moved in using a tip they had received a year ago.]
[...]
Factoid: - long but very informative
San Jose CA. 6/14/95 - "Taxpayers to pay bill for ammo raid fiasco" To save face for the Waco, Ruby Ridge and other federal jackbooted disasters, the feds go out and demonstrate EXACTLY WHAT causes these disasters. Fortunately this time, no one got killed or injured.
This is the infamous ammo seizure which went bust. To start off, let me add that I saw the original raid TV coverage and the BATF agents were in the lead, crowing about how they seized all this illegal ammo. Now that the whole thing turns out to be an illustrative example of the jackboots failure to follow common sense and proper police procedures, the US Customs service is now taking the lead. The point, when one federal agency gets in trouble count on the others come in to cover up the problem.
Pay close attention.
A little history, an informant[note the use of informant] tips the BATF off that illegal ammo is being smuggled in and Eagle Exim is doing it.
OK, 'saddle up the swat team, lets go get 'em'...said the purported good guys. First they raided the wrong business address, "freeze" ... machine guns at the ready, "OOPS wrong address, sorry." They finally get it right, go to the right address, and wow look at all the illegal ammo.
Turn on the TV cameras and lights, all pose for the TV cameras, look what we have done. 75 million rounds, biggest ammo seizure in US history.
High point is now. Goes steadily downhill from here.
Anyone hear of a telephone at the BATF? Couldn't you just have called and asked to check our stock? Noooo, the BATF has got to get the swat team and make sure this 10 semi-trucks of ammo doesn't go out the back door while we are on the phone. Besides, how would you put the 'phone call on the TV?', not very news-worthy.
[For the student - Why were the TV crews at the scene when Waco went down?]
Fast forward to Wednesday 6/14. Front page story SJMN.
"What started out as the biggest seizure of illegal ammunition in U.S. history became a history making fiasco Tuesday after federal authorities agreed to give back all of the 74 million rounds of ammunition they hauled out of a Santa Clara warehouse and pay the return freight at taxpayer expense." - SJMN
"The decision brings an abrupt and embarrassing end to a high profile case that investigators had hoped would bring arrests, the confiscation of a dangerous arsenal and a public warning to those who would traffic in black market weapons." - SJMN
[so it was to be a demo raid? we'll teach those citizens type of affair?]
"Instead, last month's raid on Eagle Exim Inc. has left the government with nothing but a very public black eye." - SJMN
"But Eagle Exim fought back, insisting they had done nothing illegal and charging the government with grandstanding in the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing."
Now that the case has crumbled, legal experts suspect that's exactly what happened.
[Looks like it happened to Koresh and the Branch Davidians, looks like it is happening way to frequently to suit me.]
Exactly what did happen may never be known...but look at how it started. "...they dusted off a year old tip from a confidential informant identifying Eagle as a smuggler of contraband ammunition." SJMN
[A YEAR OLD TIP!!!, This is what qualifies for federal investigative police work? We may want to examine more closely why these people are allowed to have machine guns as their duty weapons. ...and no one thought to phone Eagle and ask them? What professionalism. George Bush would be proud! I saw Bush Monday on the tube and he is such a principled person.]
And with the ammunition on the way back, the only thing Eagle hasn't won is an apology.
[Why the feds never make mistakes is beyond me. I know they never do because you never see them apologize when things go wrong.]
And this last gem from the article...
"Yet although the government may have blundered in raiding Eagle Exim, the public shouldn't take the incident as a troubling example of federal agencies abusing their powers," Russoniello said.
[MAY HAVE BLUNDERED!!! they still don't get it. ABUSE OF POWER, no way could you construe that, especially when a phone call and a follow-up visit would have cleared it all up without need for the swat team and raid. But take heart, the taxpayers will pay the damages. Look at the bright side. no one was killed in the fiasco.]
This is one of those rare examples which so poignantly demonstrates exactly what the problem is with the federal jackboots. They are simply out of control with no checks and balances and oversight whatsoever.
[...]
Date: Sat, 17 Jun 1995 03:08:08 -0400
NRA-ILA FAX NETWORK 11250 Waples Mill Road * Fairfax, VA 22030 Vol. 2, No. 26 6/16/95 Phone: 1-800-392-8683 * Fax: 703-267-3918
[...]
AMMO BUST A BUST: It seems the seizure of 75 million rounds of ammunition by federal authorities last month has unravelled. According to U.S. Customs officials, the May 3 seizure of 75 million rounds of 7.62 x 39 ammunition was supposedly the largest impoundment of ammunition in U.S. history. The only problem: the confiscation was made on the grounds that the ammunition was illegally imported from China, when in fact the ammunition was actually legally imported from Russia! The 75 million rounds will be returned to Eagle Exim, the importer of the ammunition.
Date: Mon, 19 JUN 95 09:56:24
CALIFORNIA:
Representatives of Eagle Exim (the largest importer of 7.62x39mm ammo in the U.S.) have been showing up on television shows and being interviewed by the press. This is a good sign. One of the most recent being this morning - 6/19/95.
At 8:46am on "Mornings on 2" - the KTVU Morning News Show, President Donald St. Pierre, (head of Eagle Exim), was interviewed. It was a positive show, with the reporter/interviewers apparently pushing the angle of a grotesquely incompetent Federal Government, and being sympa- thetic to Eagle Exim. Some of the highlights were:
- The "snitch" was a digruntled ex-employee of a competitor to Eagle Exim. When he was discharged, apparently he filed a false "report" regarding this competitor AND Eagle Exim, (for whom he never worked) ONE YEAR prior to the raid. This old "report" was dusted off right after the OKC bombing.
- With shadows of Waco (and false child abuse allegations) the Feds sought to smear Eagle Exim immediately with press releases claim- ing that the ammo was illegal, that Eagle Exim was a smuggler, and also ominous sounding references to militias and paramilitary groups (something which had NO foundation).
- A dastardly Catch-22: St. Pierre pointed out that the Feds seized not only all the ammo, but ALL the records. Thus it would have been impossible for Eagle Exim to prove their innocence under normal circumstances, since the entire paper trail which exonerated them was in the hands of Federal Agents. It was fortunate that Eagle Exim HAD DUPLICATE RECORDS of everything in the hands of their Import "expert" and these records were "missed" by the federal agents during their sweep. If these duplicate records were not saved from confiscation, proving their case would have been very difficult.
- St. Pierre pointed out that if U.S. Customs had checked "even a little", they would have immediately seen the gaping holes in the case. Apparently they just "went off" with no info, and even raided a machine shop, at the old Eagle Exim address, something which could have been verified by merely checking the phone book.
- The U.S. Justice Dept, started having doubts about the case almost immediately, however, it was the U.S. Customs Dept, that continued to make FALSE ALLEGATIONS, since they would be the most embarrassed by the entire fiasco. (Other reports have EVEN THE ATF being suspicious of the reports by US CUSTOMS agents immediately after the raid). US CUSTOMS wouldn't back down, so it fell to the U.S. JUSTICE dept to take the position that the government DIDN'T have a case.
- St. Pierre stated that the company was SHUT DOWN (even from their other sales of rifles and other types of ammo) for FOUR days, at a cost to the company of 30-35 thousand dollars. The legal costs incurred (for doing no wrong) have already added up to 100-150 thousand dollars, the cost of storage will be about 60-65 thousand dollars (since the city of Santa Clara has jumped on the band- wagon and has BANNED the company from storing the full amount of its ammo at that site). Thus the monetary loss to the company of this ill advised raid is immense.
- All of the ammo will have to be returned IMMEDIATELY. The Feds apparently made an offer that they would do this, in exchange for Eagle Exim NOT SUING them. If Eagle Exim chose to keep their civil suit option, the Govt would continue to HOLD the ammo, thus bleeding Eagle Exim of its lost sales revenue. To add insult to injury, apparently early on, the Feds were going to require Eagle Exim TO PAY for the cost of returning the ammo. In their latest deal, the government promised to return everything "free of charge" (at a cost to the taxpayers of about a $100,000.00).
- All Eagle Exim wanted now was to have their ammo returned (at no cost to Eagle) a point on which the Feds finally agreed to, and an apology. The Feds have REFUSED to apologize, a point which was BROUGHT UP by the media today. Donald St. Pierre was philo- sophical about the entire thing. He stated that he thought that the Feds just wanted to "forget the entire thing", stating that a public apology for their wrongdoing would "open them up for uncomfortable questions by the press".
MainIf you have any comments on the material in these Web pages or if you have a BATF incident to contribute, send email to croaker@barkingmad.org