N. Koreans Got 87 U.S. Copters, Officials Charge : Possible Smuggling by West German Probed

As many as 87 U.S.-built helicopters with potential for military use were diverted from Los Angeles to North Korea by an international sales representative of Hughes Helicopters Inc., federal investigators alleged Friday.

The helicopters, with a retail value of nearly $400,000 apiece, were produced at the Hughes plant in Culver City and sold within the last two years to a West German businessman, who had an agreement with Hughes to distribute commercial helicopters overseas.

The helicopters were purchased under the pretense that they would be resold in Japan, Portugal, Spain and Nigeria, according to documents filed Friday in connection with the case.

However, a month-old investigation has turned up evidence indicating that the helicopters instead were routed to North Korea, according to an affidavit by David J. Peters, special agent with the Office of Export Enforcement, a branch of the Commerce Department.

Major Breach

If the transactions unfolded as investigators suspect, it would represent a major breach in U.S. regulations intended to block export of military or other sensitive materials to unfriendly nations.

Eighty-seven helicopters could service an entire helicopter regiment, officials said.

Sale of U.S. goods to North Korea, except non-commercial amounts of humanitarian items, such as food and medicine, is a felony.

Investigators from the U.S. attorney’s office have also joined the probe. No arrest warrants have been issued in the case.

Federal investigators said the helicopters were purchased and exported by Kurt Behrens, directing manager of the West German firm Delta-Avia Fluggerate GmbH. Behrens has represented Hughes in overseas helicopter marketing for several years, according to industry sources.

The affidavit quotes a Hughes official as stating that Behrens sales had increased dramatically in late 1983, at a “time when sales in the rest of the helicopter industry were falling.”

The whereabouts of Behrens were unknown Friday, although he was not believed to be in the United States. Investigators indicated that they have not been able to contact him.

On Friday, the Commerce Department suspended the export license of Behrens, two German firms with which he is associated and at least two Los Angeles-area companies believed to have been involved in transporting the helicopters out of the country.

Fifteen additional Hughes helicopters were found at Van Nuys Airport on Friday, apparently being readied for transfer overseas as negotiations toward their purchase moved forward.

“We have asked Hughes to take those helicopters back,” said Wayne Collier, special agent in charge of the Commerce Department’s export unit in Southern California.

Investigators conducted a search Friday at three Southern California offices in an effort to obtain documents charting the movements of the helicopters.

“We are trying to tie down the pipeline,” Collier said. “We think we know the pipeline. We simply want to tie it down with documents, to see where all the players are and determine who might have had guilty knowledge.”

Collier and other federal investigators said there was no evidence to indicate that Hughes officials had any knowledge that the helicopters might be destined for North Korea.

Officials for Hughes, a subsidiary of McDonnell Douglas Corp., confirmed that the investigation was under way.

“The government has been in touch with us, and we have been cooperating to the fullest extent possible,” a Hughes statement declared.

Commercial Models

The helicopters involved are Hughes 500s, a model produced in both commercial and military versions. While the helicopters sold to Behrens’ firms were commercial models, Theodore W. Wu, deputy assistant secretary of the Commerce Department, said from Washington that “these helicopters may be easily converted to versions being used by certain military forces.”

The helicopters would require additional computers and missile racks to become combat ready, but they could easily be used for military surveillance or troop transport, military experts said. The aircraft have similar flight performance as military versions of the Model 500, which have a top speed of 175 m.p.h. and a range of 350 miles.

South Korean forces use the military version of the helicopter, and the similarities of the two aircraft could be used to create confusion, experts said.

Collier said the investigation began in January, when documents indicated that two Hughes helicopters that were to have been sold in Japan instead had been “moved from Japan on a North Korean ship.”

Single Shipment

Investigators subsequently uncovered documents allegedly indicating that a single shipment of 15 of the Behrens-bought helicopters had been shipped from Los Angeles to Antwerp, trucked to Rotterdam and then picked up by a Russian freighter, the Prorokov, and taken to North Korea. The movement contradicted the transport itinerary filed when clearance was given for export from the United States.

Seventy more helicopters were shipped similarly in four loads, and Peters’ affidavit said “evidence shows that all of these were likely transshipped to Rotterdam, with a final destination of North Korea.”

The searches Friday were conducted at the Inglewood offices of the Unitrans International Corp. and the North Hollywood offices of Associated Industries, described in the affidavit as “a company closely related to Delta.”

“The search warrants called for all documents dealing with” Behrens and his companies, Collier said.

Associated Industries has an agreement to represent Hughes in Nigeria, the document states. Attempts to reach a top Associated Industries official by telephone were unsuccessful Friday.

Eddie Mors, a Unitrans vice president, confirmed Friday that the company acted as freight forwarder of Hughes helicopters out of the country but without any knowledge that they were destined for North Korea. He said the firm believed that the helicopters were to be shipped to Europe.

“Hughes is one of our accounts,” Mors said Friday. “We certainly would not ship anything that is contrary to U.S. law and regulations. We are cooperating in every way with the investigation.”

The Commerce Department suspended the export licenses of Behrens, Associated Industries and other firms believed to be related to the transactions in order to “stop everything,” Collier said.

Violations of U.S. regulations to prevent the export of weapons and high technology to communist nations have been commonplace in recent years, despite increased federal efforts to block such transactions.

The Soviet Union has been able to use commercial channels to obtain sophisticated computers, microprocessor chips and vital metallurgical technology.