6th Suspect in Jet Parts Theft Ring Arrested

Federal authorities on Tuesday arrested a third member of a family that they say is at the center of an international ring that allegedly shipped stolen military aircraft parts to Iran.

Julie Roque Agustin, 46, was taken into custody at her home here Tuesday on charges of conspiracy, transporting stolen property and violating weapons export laws. She is the wife of Franklin Pangilinan Agustin, a San Diego insurance agent who investigators believe directed the ring’s operations here.

Franklin Agustin, 47; his brother, Edgardo, 45; Pedro Manansala Quito, 60, a Navy civilian employee, and Primitivo Baluyat Cayabyab, 36, a Navy enlisted man, are under federal indictment for their alleged roles in stealing spare aircraft parts for the Navy’s F-14 Tomcat fighters and shipping them to Iran.

Edgardo Pangilinan Agustin was arrested in New York. The others are being held without bail in San Diego. An Iranian national, identified in court documents as Saeid Asefi Inanlou, was arrested last week in London.

2 Others Not Charged

Two other members of the Agustin family, Florenzio Ragasa of Virginia Beach, Va., and a third brother, George Agustin of the Philippines, are named in affidavits filed in the case but have not been charged with any crimes.

Ragasa, who is married to Josephine Agustin, Franklin’s sister, is a chief petty officer assigned to the Josephus Daniels, a missile cruiser based in Norfolk, Va.

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

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.