Probe of Ring That Sent Iran Jet Parts Yields New Arrest

Federal authorities arrested a third member of the Agustin family Tuesday in connection with an international ring accused of supplying stolen military aircraft parts to Iran. In addition, the roles of two other relatives are being investigated.

Julie Roque Agustin, 46, wife of Franklin Agustin, who investigators believe directed the ring’s operations in San Diego, was taken into custody at her Gabacho Drive residence in Tierrasanta Tuesday on charges of conspiracy, transporting stolen property and violating weapons export laws.

Franklin Pangilinan Agustin, 47; his brother, Edgardo, 45; a Navy enlisted man, and a Navy civilian employee were arraigned Monday on charges involving the theft of aircraft parts for the Navy’s F-14 Tomcat fighter and shipping them to Iran.

A sixth member of the ring, an Iranian national identified in court documents as Saeid Asefi Inanlou, was arrested last week in London.

Two additional Agustin family members, Florenzio Ragasa of Virginia Beach, Va., and a third brother, George Agustin of the Philippines, are named in affidavits filed in the case. Ragasa, who is married to Josephine Agustin, Franklin’s sister, is a chief petty officer assigned to the guided missile cruiser Josephus Daniels, based in Norfolk, Va. Several of the aircraft parts traced by federal investigators were linked to the Naval Air Rework Facility in Norfolk, court documents show.

In addition, Franklin Agustin made several phone calls from Ragasa’s home in Virginia while orchestrating the smuggling activities, the affidavit said.

George Agustin took part in telephone calls from the Philippines to San Diego that included discussions of 40 F-14 spare parts. Investigators said at a press conference Monday that some of the stolen parts had been traced to naval facilities in the Philippines.

Neither Ragasa nor George Agustin has been charged with any crimes in the case.

The six suspects arrested thus far face as much as 10 years in prison and $10,000 in fines for each of multiple counts of conspiracy and stealing, shipping and exporting war materials.

FBI and Customs investigators are interviewing active duty and retired military personnel and civilians outside the Navy as part of the investigation.

A clearer picture of the ring’s sophisticated operation began to emerge Tuesday as investigators closed in on other suspects.

Franklin Agustin, who authorities say is an illegal alien, is believed to be the leader of the San Diego stolen parts operation. In court documents, the ring is referred to as “the Agustin organization.”

Agustin kept a large inventory of stolen F-14 parts in his garage and at the Mini-Max Self Storage facility in San Diego and held clandestine meetings at his National City insurance agency, according to a 58-page affidavit unsealed Monday in U.S. District Court.

For four months beginning in April, federal investigators tapped Franklin Agustin’s home and work telephones, tailed family members throughout Southern California and kept constant surveillance outside their residences.

The investigation traced 26 shipments containing 60 cartons of stolen parts that were sent from the West Coast to New York and then on to London for delivery to Iran.

In addition, the investigation turned up numerous instances when Frank Agustin discussed the availability of spare aircraft parts and cash payments with Primitivo Baluyat Cayabyab, 36, an aviation storekeeper on the Kitty Hawk, and Pedro Manansala Quito, 60, a civilian warehouse worker assigned to the Fleet Avionics Logistics Support Center in San Diego.

During one monitored conversation, Franklin Agustin, after complaining that some parts had been broken, told Cayabyab that “they” needed five parts orders immediately, court documents revealed. Cayabyab allegedly responded, “Tell them that they can be available but don’t commit yourself. I don’t want to be hung up.”

Cayabyab, who has been in the Navy since 1968, Quito and Frank and Julie Agustin are being held without bail at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in downtown San Diego pending further court proceedings. Edgardo Agustin is being held in New York.

Franklin Agustin, who drove a gold-colored Mercedes Benz during the time he was followed by investigators, has been assigned a private attorney, Louis Katz, at government expense. He will be required to pay as much of Katz’s fees as he can afford, according to a spokeswoman in the federal court clerk’s office.

The others have not been provided with government-appointed attorneys.

Franklin Agustin’s wife, Julie, acted primarily as a courier for the theft ring, the affidavit said.

In a phone discussion taped on May 23, she told her husband that she “wrapped (a package) so nice . . . but I can’t carry it to the car.” The couple decided that Julie should get “Jay” at school and have him help her carry the package, according to the affidavit.

Later that day, Julie Agustin and a young male were observed delivering a 104-pound carton to Federal Express in San Diego for shipment to New York.

Franklin Agustin’s alleged connection in New York is his brother Edgardo, who was once investigated by the Immigration and Naturalization Service for involvement in smuggling Filipinos into the United States, according to court documents. Arrested Friday in New York, he is believed to be responsible for sending the stolen parts to London.

Edgardo Agustin testified before a New York federal grand jury in 1982 that he had received money from Inanlou, the Iranian national, to start his own company, Merit Communications. Inanlou ordered about $1.5 million in merchandise through Merit, including navigational maps for airspace over Iran and Iraq, radar tubes and radio equipment, according to the affidavit.

In London, Inanlou and his wife, Sarashoob Ramazanian, used the fictitious firm Chandler Trading to conduct most of the transactions involving spare F-14 parts, court documents showed.

They were able to order the parts using the 20-digit Navy national stock numbers taken from F-14 manuals supplied with 80 of the fighter planes that were purchased by Iran in 1972 when Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi controlled the government.

Inanlou exported fighter aircraft ejector seats to Iran in 1980 and made other shipments through the Iranian Embassy in London, according to U.S. Customs agent Jim McShane.

Court documents show that Inanlou called Franklin Agustin in April to complain that he had received only five of seven fuel control parts he had ordered.

Inanlou stated that “the third and fourth ones had been returned to me (from Iran) . . . it had been smashed.” Inanlou lamented that it was “such a waste” to send the parts in inadequate packing materials “from your side to L.A., L.A. to New York, New York to here, here then Zurich . . . .”