2 Accused of Trying to Sell Military Cannons

An Idaho peddler of used airplanes and a Southern California intermediary have been arrested in a sting operation for allegedly trying to sell undercover federal agents five 30-millimeter cannons capable of firing 1,200 explosive projectiles a minute.

Steven L. Picatti, 53, of Boise and Kasi Gabbita, 55, of Hacienda Heights were taken into custody by agents of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the U.S. Customs Service on Monday and Tuesday, federal officials said Tuesday.

Agents said they expect to arrest a third man.

They said at a news conference that Picatti, the principal in the alleged deal, apparently believed he was dealing with suppliers of a drug cartel when he transferred the weapons to Los Angeles.

Instead, he was arrested Monday near Van Nuys Airport as he awaited a $24,000 payment for four of the cannons he had allegedly driven to Los Angeles in a pickup truck.

Gabbita was arrested at his home Tuesday morning.

Picatti is accused of selling and delivering a fifth cannon to federal undercover agents in February for $12,000.

The British- and French-manufactured Aden cannon, developed in the late 1940s, was once used in Hawker Hunter fighter planes and in U.S. Marine Harrier fighters. It is classed as an “implement of war,” and ownership by civilians is prohibited under a 1968 U.S. law.

“I think we’re fortunate to intercept these weapons before they hit the streets of Los Angeles,” said Barry M. Caires, agent in charge of the ATF field office in Van Nuys.

Caires and other ATF and customs officials described the Aden cannon as primarily useful in air-to-air and air-to-ground combat.

Each armor-piercing projectile carries an explosive and incendiary charge that would destroy anything it hit, they said.

“The Aden cannon has no legitimate civilian use,” said ATF agent Richard A. Curd. “One of them in the wrong hands has the potential to cause catastrophic destruction.”

A complaint filed in federal court said Gabbita and an unnamed man first met with U.S. undercover agents in February at a restaurant in Los Alamitos and said that a man “up north” would sell the weapons.

This man allegedly turned out to be Picatti, and the complaint says he shipped the first cannon to Los Angeles International Airport on a United Express plane Feb. 18.

An ATF and customs statement said that Picatti traveled to Los Angeles to complete the sale of the first cannon, and then came back Monday, flying to Burbank airport to sell the other four.

Caires said the undercover agents had told Picatti when they met Monday near Van Nuys Airport that they were going to bring the $24,000 and then he would show them where the other cannon had been stored.

But while Picatti waited for the money outside the government-controlled facility where the meeting was held, several agents arrested him.

Caires declined to describe Picatti’s reaction.

Agents said Picatti, a U.S. citizen who they said has no criminal record, has sold airplanes throughout the world. He works at the Boise Airport for a firm called Jet Aviation Services and operates Picatti Aero Service.

“Let’s say you wanted to buy a MIG fighter,” an ATF agent said. “Picatti would locate it for you, fly it to Boise, recondition it and deliver it to you.”

But under U.S. law, such a fighter sold to a civilian could carry no arms.

The agents said they did not know whether Gabbita, who is from India, is a U.S. citizen, and they did not describe his occupation.

According to the complaint, Picatti and his son, Michael Picatti, would sometimes find arms in the planes they obtained.

Although named in the complaint, Michael Picatti is not now facing a charge.

Reached Tuesday at his home in Boise, Michael Picatti said he knew nothing of his father’s arrest.

“Obviously, this matter is quite involved, and I can’t talk now,” he said.

Steven Picatti appeared Tuesday afternoon before U.S. Magistrate R.J. Groh Jr., but proceedings were delayed until today after Groh learned that the U.S. attorney’s office had failed to allow Picatti to see an attorney from the public defender’s office before the hearing.

Groh ordered the U.S. attorney’s office to submit a full explanation to him by Friday for what the magistrate described as a breach of regular procedure.

Picatti said in court that he understood his rights.

Gabbita did not appear in court.