DALLAS, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- An $8 million U.S.-made Bell helicopter illegally bound for Iran has been grounded in Texas for more than a year, federal agents confirmed.
The Bell 412 was one of three purchased by an Italian broker, Tiber Aviation, from a company in Mexico, Helivan, The Dallas Morning News reported Monday.
Helivan had been leasing the helicopters from Bell and then illegally sold them to Iran, federal agents allege.
Two of the helicopters were shipped to Iran before federal agents learned of the deal, which violates U.S. trade sanctions, said George Richardson, a spokesman for the U.S. Commerce Department's Dallas office.
The third Bell 412 has been sitting in a hangar in Arlington, Texas, since October 2008 under a federal lawsuit to determine the rightful owner, Richardson said.
Tiber had the helicopters flown to Texas for packaging before being shipped to Italy and then on to Iran, agents said. Two of the helicopters had shipped when a Tiber official asked the shipping company, Palapina Inc., what it would cost to ship directly to Iran and a Palapina official contacted federal agents.
