4 Indicted in Alleged Plot to Smuggle Arms to Croats
Four men were indicted Monday on charges of plotting to ship $12-million worth of Stinger missiles, rifles and other arms to Yugoslavia for use by the Croatian resistance.
They had been arrested Aug. 8 after allegedly trying to purchase weapons, ammunition and night-vision goggles from an undercover federal agent.
Two weeks ago, the four traveled from Chicago to Miami, where they allegedly made a $10,000 payment for the equipment, which was to be sent to Croats battling Serbs and federal troops in Yugoslavia, U.S. officials said.
The four are Douglas J. Russell, 64, who owns a gun shop in Calumet City, Ill., near Chicago; Branko Majstoric, 36, of Yugoslavia; Ivan Beslic, 35, a Yugoslav living in Chicago; and Andjelko Jurkovic, 52.
U.S. Customs Commissioner Carol Hallett said that Jurkovic, a U.S. citizen, was a member of OTPOR, which she described as a Chicago-based terrorist group suspected of smuggling weapons to insurgents fighting for the secession of Croatia from Yugoslavia.
If convicted, the men face up to 15 years in prison and up to $500,000 in fines. All four were in federal custody.
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