The LTTE has quietly established presence in the US as part of its global expansion plan to raise funds and procure anti-aircraft weapons and other military equipment on a massive scale.
WASHINGTON: The LTTE has quietly established presence in the United States as part of its global expansion plan to raise funds and procure anti-aircraft weapons and other military equipment on a massive scale.
The group’s political wing has established “branches” in at least 12 countries, including the US, as part of a global expansion to purchase millions of dollars worth of anti-aircraft weapons, automatic rifles, grenade launchers, ammunition and other military equipment, the Washington Times reported on Monday quoting officials.
The expansion includes operations in Maryland, New York and New Jersey. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has been battling the Sri lankan military since 1983 to press for a separate homeland for ethnic Tamils in Sinhalese-majority Sri Lanka.
A criminal complaint filed in federal court in New York in April last year said the LTTE relied on “sympathetic Tamil expatriates” in the US, Canada, Britain, Australia, France and other countries to raise and launder money, smuggle arms, explosives, equipment and technology to Sri Lanka, obtain intelligence about the Sri Lankan government and spread propaganda.
The LTTE grabbed the attention of US authorities in August 2006 when eight people were charged in the New York case with conspiracy to provide resources and material support, the paper said.
Last year, FBI agents in New York arrested Karunakaran Kandasamy, described as the “director” of US operations, accusing him of raising money and arranging meetings between LTTE leaders in Sri Lanka and prominent US fundraisers.
FBI Assistant Director Mark J. Mershon, who heads the bureau’s New York field division, said at the time Kandasamy “hasn’t merely supported the Tamil Tigers’ cause, he orchestrated US support.
US Attorney Roslynn R. Mauskopf said Kandasamy raised cash by staging fundraisers for tsunami victims through an organisation known as the World Tamil Coordinating Committee.
In Maryland, Thirunavukarasu Varatharasa, a Sri Lankan national, was sentenced in January to 57 months in prison on charges of conspiracy to provide support to the LTTE and the attempted exportation of arms and munitions, The Washington Times said.
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