By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com
Go on eBay and you’ll find it all: a Bottega Veneta handbag; a 1956 Chevy Bel Air van; an uncirculated Eagle quarter shrunk to the size of a dime.
But a U.S. spy plane?
Yes, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Tampa said Monday that it had charged Henson Chua, 47, of the Philippines with trying to sell a U.S. spy plane known as a Raven on eBay for $13,000 to federal agents with the Homeland Security Department, Reuters news service reported. He was arrested in Los Angeles in February during a visit to the U.S.
Specifically, he was charged with smuggling and violating the Arms Export Control Act, Reuters reported. The news service did not report how he had obtained the plane.
Reuters reported that the four-pound plane, which can easily be taken apart and reassembled, has three cameras and is used for battlefield surveillance.
Reuters reported that federal agents discovered last May that the plane was for sale. Chua sent them the plane in pieces in separate packages in exchange for the money.
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