SOVIETS MAY HAVE 8 CRATES OF U.S. COMPUTER EQUIPMENT, OFFICIALS SAY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000404450003-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 21, 2010
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: December 20, 1983
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/21 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000404450003-3
2~AI/S ii1;'~ALD
20 December 1983 STAT
Soviets may have 8 crates of U.S.
.
computer e ui rent q ~ , officials say
By CARL M. CANNON ble that those eight crates could already be in Soviet
Heratd.Wasnington Bureau hands? "Yes," answered Rudman.
WASHINGTON - Eight giant crates of sophisticat-! ' Whatever the crates contain, their receipt by Russia
ed U.S.-made uomputer equipment have disappeared, -j- "
perhaps into th
e hands of the Soviet Union,.U.S. offi- -would be-another coup-for a German national and noto-
cials disclosed Monday. " ' . Tions West-East tech 1
no o
The information came to light
in a backhanded way.at a press
conference called by Treasury Sec-
retary Donald Regan and Defense
Secretary Caspar Weinberger to
show off 10 tons of computer
equipment successfully recovered
by the U.S. Customs Service with
help from West Germany and
South Africa. Neither said any-
thing about the missing shipmenu_
today that one of this nation's most
back in our hands and not-on its Regan
way to the Soviet Union, ' said Regan, pointing to a Di-
gital Equipment Corp. VAX 11-782 that was seized
Nov. 9 in Hamburg, Germany, and returned Friday to
the United States.
The S1.5-million computer, used for missile guid-
ance systems, military systems design, simulation of
radar networks, war gaming and a host of other.rnili
tarn purposes, "was an illegal and dangerous shipment
to the Soviet Union;" Weinberger added.
But it soon became clear the real purpose of the
press conference was to-pressure Sweden into return-
ing to the United States four more crates of the same
shipment, which US. officials believe .may include an-
other VAX 11-782: The 5wedeszbave-been moncotamit=
`tal because of Aheir?traditional.besirancy to.irritate the-
Soviets,-who played.on this Sear Monday'by calling the
Swedes "errand boys for the CIA."
The Swedish connection was old news, but a re-
markable new disclosure came from Customs Service
official William Rudman after Weinberger and Regan
had left. Rudman said that 15 shipments altogether had
left the United States for South Africa, apparently on
the first leg toward the Soviet Union - and that the
four in Sweden and the three seized in. Hamburg left
another eight unaccounted for.
The huge crates weigh up to 10 tons each. U.S. offi-
cials said they have no idea what high technology
equipment and secrets they contain.
Asked if the eight missing shipments could have
.contained other VAX 1]-782s, Rudman shrugged and
said, "It's possible.. we just don't know." Was it possi-
gy runner named Richard
Mueller, who U.S. officials said masterminded the scam.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/21 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000404450003-3