HONG KONG, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- A Hong Kong court document said Tuesday that two Pakistanis and one U.S. citizen were being held for allegedly planning to distribute drugs and provide anti-aircraft missiles to Osama bin Laden's al Qaida network.
"All three are wanted for trial in U.S. court in the Southern District of California," the document said. The men were identified as Syed Mustajab Shah, Muhammad Abid Afridi and Ityaf Ali. They were listed as two Pakistanis and one U.S. citizen, but the document didn't specify each one's nationality.
The three were arrested on charges of "conspiring to distribute heroin and hashish, to import heroin and hashish and provide material support and resources to designated terrorist organizations."
They were arrested Sept. 20 in Hong Kong after an undercover FBI investigation in the United States and abroad. The suspects were allegedly attempting to negotiate a sale of more than 1,000 pounds of heroin and 5 metric tons of hashish in exchange for the missiles, the court document said.
All three were expected to be extradited to the United States. The document said the three would stay in custody until Nov. 15.
Hong Kong radio reported that the three men allegedly expected to use proceeds from the sale of arms and narcotics to buy the missiles. Local media said the men were all in their 40's and did not want to be extradited to the United States.
Hong Kong has an extradition agreement with the United States. A new customs agreement is also in place to help combat global terrorism, with U.S. and Hong Kong customs officials working alongside each other.
Hong Kong is a massive shipping hub, and U.S. officials feared terrorists might attempt to plant explosives aboard a container to be shipped to the United States.
The U.S. Consulate in Hong Kong referred inquiries about the case to the FBI and Justice Department in Washington.
