Yonkers, NY Man Admits to Aiding Terrorists

Westchester1.com Homealnd Security Section ^ | June 29, 2005 | Scott Kahn (me)

[sdk7x7]

By Scott D. Kahn

Thirty-five year old Yonkers resident Fernando Sero pleaded guilty in federal court on Wednesday to illegally selling assault rifle parts to terrorists in the Philippines in March. The weapons were likely sold to communist guerillas, a Muslim seperatist group known as the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, and two terrorist groups with ties to al-Queda.

The groups were based out of Mindanao Island, an ungovernable part of the Philippines that is overrun with terrorists and militants. Sero’s family owns a compound on the island. Sero had been under investigation by the U.S. government for allegedly shipping illicit weapons to the region for some time. He was recently taken into custody after a domestic violence incident in which he held a gun to his wife’s head and was involved in a standoff with the Yonkers Police Department.

According to federal officials, Sero shipped parts for AK-47 and AR-15 assault rifles to an arms shop that he owns on the island. He faces up to 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine for his actions.

Scott D. Kahn is an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania's College of Arts & Sciences and a summer intern with Westchester1.com.

[sdk7x7]

Written by yours truly. Hope this guy gets maximum prison time.

[Cicero]

Not smart to threaten his wife and resist the Yonkers police. I think that got their attention.

[GSlob]

Couldn't they find an easier source for AK-47 parts than an American-based dealer?? The next door to them is China, after all, and ME is not that far away, either. AR-15 parts are more understandable.

[MIT-Elephant]

Get the piano wire. Hang 'em high.

[taxed2death]

"The groups were based out of Mindanao Island, an ungovernable part of the Philippines that is overrun with terrorists and militants"

...just a little over the top now... wouldn't you say?

Just stay out of the southwestern part of the island and you'll be fine.

Davao city was voted "most livable" Asian city a few years in a row recently if I am not mistaken.

[wingnutx]

Cebu is nice. Was when I was there 15 years ago, anyway.

[sdk7x7]

From local paper, which first got the scoop: "It's one of the most ungovernable places in the world," said Angel Rabaa, a senior policy analyst with the Rand Corp., who has written extensively about security issues in Southeast Asia. "Mindanao is like an armed camp. It's awash in weapons." ... The U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines recently told an Australian news program that Mindanao was becoming like Afghanistan before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

[GOP_1900AD]

First thing I have to wonder is if he got the AKs through the same channels as the folks busted by Customs in '96 for attempting to smuggle thousands of full auto AKs (and were planning RPGs, grenades and recoilless rifles) into Oakland. The source of most of the HW was NORINCO.

Second thing I have to wonder is if he is in any way in the same loop with the Abu faction that Nicols was caught up with.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!