Huntington Beach : Computer Chip Dealer Faces Smuggling Count
The owner of a Huntington Beach computer chip brokerage firm was indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury in Seattle on charges of smuggling more than $1 million worth of computer chips into this country from Japan.
Paul Columbus, 29, owner of Columbus International, conspired with a Japanese engineering company to smuggle about 460,000 computer chips into the United States via Canada from March to October, 1986, the indictment alleged.
A press release issued by federal officials said Columbus was suspected of making several trips to Tokyo to buy computer chips from the Showa Engineering Co. and other brokers at prices much lower than those charged by U.S. manufacturers.
The indictment further alleges that Columbus illegally brought the merchandise across the U.S.-Canadian border after it was shipped to Vancouver from Japan.
Arraignment is scheduled for Thursday in Seattle federal court.
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