Yamaha Employees Arrested for Helicopter Export

Japanese authorities have arrested three Yamaha Motor Co. employees on suspicion of attempting to illegally export to China a remote-controlled helicopter that could be used to disperse chemical agents, Deutsche Press-Agentur reported today (see GSN, Jan. 4).

The company failed to obtain government approval for exporting the helicopter to Beijing BVE Technology, which is believed to be connected to the People’s Liberation Army, Kyodo News reported.

The export in question did not go through. However, Yamaha has acknowledged previously shipping nine of the helicopters to Beijing. It denied violating Japanese export rules, and said the helicopters were intended solely for agricultural use (Deutsche Press-Agentur, Feb. 23).