China Citizen Arrested for Attempting to Steal Documents Showing Development of Advanced Titanium for US Military Aircraft
On November 7, U.S. officials arrested a Chinese citizen who tried stealing American military documents and bringing them to his native country.
Yu Long, a permanent resident of the U.S. who worked for a defense contractor in Connecticut, attempted to steal documents that detailed the development of advanced titanium for U.S. military aircraft, The Associated Press reported this week. The 36-year-old was caught before taking the stolen documents to China.
International Business Times reports Long was on his way to his native country last month when customs officers noticed the documents in his luggage at New Jersey's Newark Liberty International Airport. Two days later, the former New Haven resident was arrested in Ithaca, New York.
The China native was previously stopped at customs back in August for carrying $10,000 of undeclared cash at New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport, according to China National News. He also carried an application to work for a government aviation research in China and documents for a new Chinese corporation.
Long was federally charged with stealing confidential military documents Tuesday after a judge in Bridgeport ordered for the complaint affidavit to be unsealed.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation described the stolen documents as, "sensitive proprietary documents that set forth detailed equations and test results used in the development of technologically advanced titanium for U.S. military aircraft."
The United Stated banned the export of American defense articles and associated technical data to China in 1989, right after the military action at Tiananmen Square.
Reports show that Long retrieved the documents from a research project at a defense contractor in Connecticut where he used to work as a senior engineer and scientist at a research and development center. He worked for the Connecticut defense contractor for over five years and is said to have traveled to China several times during his time working there.
There were also materials from another major defense contractor located outside of Connecticut.
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