Canadian Charged in Missile Inquiry

The president of a counter-terrorism consulting firm has been charged with possessing 2,352 unregistered small military missiles, according to court documents.

Investigators also found 4,000 pounds of explosives at High Energy Access Tools, an anti-terrorism and police training company that was conducting classes for students from the United Arab Emirates and Yemen, said Tom Mangan, an agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

David Hudak, a Canadian national and president of High Energy Access Tools, was arrested Thursday and charged with possessing missiles not registered to him, according to a federal complaint filed Friday.

The ATF agents were summoned for a search of the company’s facilities in Roswell and Tinnie on Thursday and were there “basically to handle all the explosives that were taken into custody,” Mangan said Saturday.

He added that the students, who were in the facility at the time, are cooperating with the investigation.

Mangan declined to elaborate on the investigation Saturday, referring questions to prosecutors, who didn’t return a telephone call.

Frank Fish, director of security for the company, said after the arrest that the firm had believed it was licensed to have appropriate equipment to train U.S. allies and export it to allied nations, but found out the permit was not filed. He did not specifically mention the missiles.

Fish also said the company invited agencies to inspect its sites because the firm wanted to be sure it was compliant.

The complaint, obtained by the Albuquerque Tribune for a story in its Saturday editions, referred to the missiles’ official designation as the M141 Bunker Defeat Munition.