FBI Arrests a Sixth Suspect in Theft of Military Parts for Iran

FBI officials announced Tuesday the arrest of an additional defendant in a case involving an alleged smuggling ring that sent stolen military equipment to Iran.

The arrest of 46-year-old Julie Roque Agustin at her San Diego home brought to six the number of people charged in connection with the ring. She is the wife of Franklin Pangilinan Agustin, 47, a San Diego insurance agent who was among the five men taken into custody Friday, the FBI said in a prepared statement.

Julie Agustin appeared before U.S. Magistrate Roger McKee later Tuesday and was ordered held without bond at the federal Metropolitan Correctional Center downtown, pending further court proceedings.

She is charged with violating weapons export control laws, interstate transportation of stolen property and conspiracy, the FBI said. The United States banned the export of military supplies to Iran six years ago after followers of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini took over the country.

In addition to the Agustins, federal authorities in San Diego arrested Pedro Manansala Quito, 60, and Primitivo Baluyat Cayabyab, 36. Franklin Agustin’s brother, Edgardo Pangilinan Agustin, 45, was taken into custody in New York, and a fifth man, an Iranian national, was being held without bond in London.

According to government affidavits released Monday, ring members obtained an undetermined number of weapons and spare parts by gaining access to the U.S. military’s supply system. Replacement parts for the Navy’s F-14 jet fighter were among the items that were stolen and shipped by the ring, authorities said.