Hot Line Seeks Tips on Illegal Exports

The U.S. Commerce Department began a 24-hour hot line Thursday for people or businesses to call in tips on illegal export activities.

Officials hope that the pilot program--the first of its kind nationwide--will encourage companies in the export business to cooperate and assist the export enforcement arm of Commerce, said Brooks Ohlson, special agent in charge of the Office of Export Enforcement in Irvine. The office, an arm of the Bureau of Export Administration, oversees export regulations in Southern California and five other western states.

If successful, Ohlson said, Commerce will establish similar programs across the country in an effort to keep sensitive technology with military applications away from countries thought to be unfriendly, such as Cuba, Iran and Libya.

The hot line--(800) 424-2980--will be available in 11 western states the bureau’s regional office oversees.

“We will be checking out all the calls to ensure that allegations are well-founded and not malicious in nature,” Ohlson said.

Many cases the enforcement agency has successfully completed started with phone calls, said Jim Lowry, an agent with the bureau. The most recent example was one involving two Iranian businessmen working in Newport Beach who shipped sensitive electronics equipment to Iran that can be used in missile guidance systems and nuclear weapons tests.

“Our agency can become more effective if we can get the full cooperation of people in the trading business as well as those in the high-tech manufacturing industry,” Lowry said.