Hungarian man arrested for smuggling U.S. military devices to Russia

A Hungarian man has been arrested in San Francisco on suspicion of conspiring to illegally export 200 U.S. military radio communication devices to Russian government entities, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C., as reported by 444.

On Monday, a 46-year-old man named Bence Horváth was detained in San Francisco. He is accused of “conspiring with others to illegally export U.S.-origin radio communications technology to Russian government end users without authorisation,” as reported by various news outlets.

The gravity of the case is highlighted by the fact that officials from five different agencies were involved in announcing the arrest. These include U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, Assistant Attorney General for National Security Affairs Matthew Olsen, Special Agent in Charge of the New Orleans Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations, Eric DeLaune, Special Agent in Charge of the New Orleans Field Office of HSI, Darrin K. Jones, Special Agent in Charge of the Southeast Regional Office of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Trey McClish, and Special Agent in Charge of the Dallas Regional Office of the Department of Commerce’s Office of Export Controls.

Horváth and his associates are believed to have begun negotiations in January 2023 with a small U.S. radio distribution company. Their objective was to purchase and export U.S.-made military-grade radios and related accessories to Russia.

In the months that followed, Horváth successfully acquired 200 military-grade radios, which he intended to ship to Russia via a Latvian transport service. However, the attempt was thwarted when U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized the shipment, preventing the radios from reaching Russian users.