Swordsmyth
01-05-2019, 09:26 PM
When the news broke earlier this week that the US had arrested a Russian national in the Northern Mariana Islands, it largely flew under the radar, registering mostly in local media like the Saipan Times. But on Saturday, the story of the arrest of Dmitry Makarenko, a resident of Vladivostok who was arrested a few days after Russia took Paul Whelan - a suspected US spy who had been traveling in Moscow - into custody, reached a broader audience when Russia's Foreign Ministry acknowledged the arrest in a statement.
The arrest has raised questions about whether the US intends to use Makarenko as a bargaining chip for Whelan, whose cover story has been called into question amid speculation that his arrest wasn't simply retaliation for the US's arrest and the subsequent guilty plea of Maria Butina (https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-12-13/butina-admits-being-kremlin-agent-sought-influence-american-politics-through-nra).
Butina famously admitted to infiltrating the NRA at the direction of Kremlin insiders with the intention of establishing a communication back channel between Moscow and the US.
https://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/2019.01.05russia.JPG
According to the statement, the Russian Embassy in Washington is seeking access to Makarenko, and has demanded an explanation for his arrest.
According to the Saipan Times (https://www.saipantribune.com/index.php/fbi-arrests-man-wanted-in-florida-for-arms-violations-conspiracy/), a newspaper in the Marianas, which was one of the few news organizations to initially cover Makarenko's Dec. 29 arrest by federal agents in Saipan, Makarenko has been implicated in a scheme to illegally export "defense articles" without a license from the US State Department. He participated in the scheme in partnership with another Russian who had been living in Florida's Broward County, and who had helped procure the equipment for export. This co-conspirator had been sentenced to 26 months in prison last June.
According to court filings cited by the Saipan Times, the two men allegedly exported items including night-vision rifle scopes, monoculars and ammunition primers between April and November 2013.
More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-01-05/russia-demands-us-justify-arrest-suspected-arms-dealer
What is up with Hazard Broward county?
The arrest has raised questions about whether the US intends to use Makarenko as a bargaining chip for Whelan, whose cover story has been called into question amid speculation that his arrest wasn't simply retaliation for the US's arrest and the subsequent guilty plea of Maria Butina (https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-12-13/butina-admits-being-kremlin-agent-sought-influence-american-politics-through-nra).
Butina famously admitted to infiltrating the NRA at the direction of Kremlin insiders with the intention of establishing a communication back channel between Moscow and the US.
https://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/2019.01.05russia.JPG
According to the statement, the Russian Embassy in Washington is seeking access to Makarenko, and has demanded an explanation for his arrest.
According to the Saipan Times (https://www.saipantribune.com/index.php/fbi-arrests-man-wanted-in-florida-for-arms-violations-conspiracy/), a newspaper in the Marianas, which was one of the few news organizations to initially cover Makarenko's Dec. 29 arrest by federal agents in Saipan, Makarenko has been implicated in a scheme to illegally export "defense articles" without a license from the US State Department. He participated in the scheme in partnership with another Russian who had been living in Florida's Broward County, and who had helped procure the equipment for export. This co-conspirator had been sentenced to 26 months in prison last June.
According to court filings cited by the Saipan Times, the two men allegedly exported items including night-vision rifle scopes, monoculars and ammunition primers between April and November 2013.
More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-01-05/russia-demands-us-justify-arrest-suspected-arms-dealer
What is up with Hazard Broward county?