Arrests made over nuclear device exports

The Metropolitan Police Department arrested Kazusaku Tezuka, president of leading precision measuring device maker Mitutoyo Corp., and four other executives on Friday on suspicion of illegally exporting two 3-D measuring devices that are essential for nuclear weapon development.

One of the exported devices was discovered in Libya, allegedly traveling through a nuclear black market.

The MPD found that Mitutoyo had also illegally exported a precision measuring tool to Iran, which is alleged to be developing a nuclear weapons program. The MPD suspects that company executives made repeated trades that they knew were illegal, to increase profits.

Arrested were Tezuka, 67, Vice Chairman Norio Takatsuji, 71, Board Member Hideyo Chikugo, 66, and two others.

According to the MPD, Tezuka and others exported two 3-D measuring devices in 2001--one in October and the other in November, each priced at 4.7 million yen--from Tokyo Port to its Malaysian subsidiary via Singapore, without obtaining the required permission from the economy, trade and industry minister.

One of the devices was discovered at a nuclear research facility in Libya when the International Atomic Energy Agency conducted a nuclear inspection in the country from December 2003 to January 2004.

The devices are used for measuring the deviation of circles and can pinpoint deformities in gas centrifuge cylinders, used for uranium enrichment, thus helping to improve accuracy. These types of high-tech products can be converted for military use and are therefore regulated by the government.

The MPD suspects Tezuka gave tacit approval to the illegal exports when Takatsuji and Chikugo took charge of the deals though he headed the company's committee handling checks on exports.

The order for the devices was made by a Malaysian firm, Scomi Precision Engineering. The MPD found that one of the 3-D measuring devices was transported on an Iranian cargo vessel from Malaysia to Dubai, which is believed to be the center of the nuclear black market. It was then transported to the nuclear research facility in Libya, according to the police.

The MPD also found that Mitutoyo illegally exported a precision measuring tool to Iran in 1997, and related software in 2002.

In 1997, the then International Trade and Industry Ministry found that the Mitutoyo client was an Iranian military-linked firm, and pointed out that the exported product could be used for developing weapons of mass destruction. However, Mitutoyo changed the name of the client firm and exported the measuring device to the same address.

The MPD suspects that Mitutoyo falsified the client data, fearing that the item might not be permitted for export by the ministry. The police also searched a Tokyo-based trading firm, Seian, that acted as an agent in the deal.

The MPD searched Mitutoyo headquarters in Kawasaki and other related locations in February on suspicion that the firm has been exporting 3-D measuring devices to China and other countries without government permission. On further investigation, it was found that the device in Libya is likely to have been transported through Malaysia and Dubai.

The Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Law restricts the export of products that can be converted for use in the development of weapons of mass destruction. The Economy, Trade, and Industry Ministry has disclosed the names of foreign firms that are suspected of developing such weapons, banning exports to these firms.

Mitutoyo had sales of 65.7 billion yen for the business year ending in March 2005, making it the leading precision toolmaker in the domestic industry. When sales of 45 subsidiaries in Japan and overseas are included, the company's consolidated sales were 94.8 billion yen--60 percent of which came from foreign firms.

The firm also holds a 30 percent share of the worldwide market in precision measuring devices.