British Counterinsurgency Expert Arrested in US
Jim Kouri, CPP
August 31, 2005
In a story resembling a Tom Clancy thriller, a British mercenary accused of conspiring to violate the Arms Export Control Act in connection with a scheme in 1991 to illegally export a US fighter jet intended for use in killing Pablo Escobar, the then-leader of Colombia’s Medellin drug cartel was arrested in Texas. According to US government officials, he was on his way to attend a security training class at Fort Bliss.
Federal agents arrested reputed British mercenary and counterinsurgency expert David Brian Tomkins, age 63, after he was intercepted at George Bush International Airport in Houston, Texas. Arriving on a flight from London, Tomkins was met by the agents and US Customs inspectors after they determined there was an outstanding Homeland Security Department warrant for his arrest in Miami.
Tomkins was traveling to the United States to attend survival training at Fort Bliss, Texas in order to obtain employment as a security official with a firm involved in reconstruction in Iraq. In April 1994, Tomkins had been indicted in the Southern District of Florida for conspiracy to violate the Arms Export Control Act as a result of an investigation. He had fled the United States prior to the indictment, suspecting that he was under federal investigation.
Federal authorities claim the arrest of this individual removes a key player from the ranks of international arms dealers. One of the most important missions of the DHS is to put these individuals out of business and prevent them from trafficking in sensitive US weapons.
The investigation into Tomkins began in 1991 when ICE agents in Puerto Rico received word that Tomkins was attempting to buy a fighter jet for use in killing Pablo Escobar, the then-chief of the Medellin drug cartel. ICE agents launched an undercover probe and soon met with Tomkins in Miami to negotiate the sale of an A-37 “Dragonfly,” a Vietnam-era turbojet fighter aircraft often used in counterinsurgency efforts.
Federal law enforcement agents learned from an additional source that Tomkins was allegedly being paid $10 million by the rival Cali drug cartel to assassinate Escobar. In subsequent undercover meetings, Tomkins allegedly indicated that he was a mercenary and that he sought to buy the A-37 fighter aircraft to bomb a prison in Colombia that was housing Escobar.
Tomkins also allegedly discussed the need to purchase bombs for the A-37 and a Bell helicopter to survey the prison after the planned bombing to ensure that Escobar was dead. After an inspection of the fighter jet, Tompkins provided undercover ICE agents with $25,000 as a down payment for the aircraft in December 1991, according to the indictment.
Subsequently, Tompkins suddenly fled the country. He later called agents from London, telling them that he had received a phone call in which he was warned that he was the target of a federal sting. In April 1994, a federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida issued an indictment alleging that Tompkins had conspired to export an A-37 fighter jet without obtaining the required State Department export license, in violation of the Arms Export Control Act.
Federal agents arrested reputed British mercenary and counterinsurgency expert David Brian Tomkins, age 63, after he was intercepted at George Bush International Airport in Houston, Texas. Arriving on a flight from London, Tomkins was met by the agents and US Customs inspectors after they determined there was an outstanding Homeland Security Department warrant for his arrest in Miami.
Tomkins was traveling to the United States to attend survival training at Fort Bliss, Texas in order to obtain employment as a security official with a firm involved in reconstruction in Iraq. In April 1994, Tomkins had been indicted in the Southern District of Florida for conspiracy to violate the Arms Export Control Act as a result of an investigation. He had fled the United States prior to the indictment, suspecting that he was under federal investigation.
Federal authorities claim the arrest of this individual removes a key player from the ranks of international arms dealers. One of the most important missions of the DHS is to put these individuals out of business and prevent them from trafficking in sensitive US weapons.
The investigation into Tomkins began in 1991 when ICE agents in Puerto Rico received word that Tomkins was attempting to buy a fighter jet for use in killing Pablo Escobar, the then-chief of the Medellin drug cartel. ICE agents launched an undercover probe and soon met with Tomkins in Miami to negotiate the sale of an A-37 “Dragonfly,” a Vietnam-era turbojet fighter aircraft often used in counterinsurgency efforts.
Federal law enforcement agents learned from an additional source that Tomkins was allegedly being paid $10 million by the rival Cali drug cartel to assassinate Escobar. In subsequent undercover meetings, Tomkins allegedly indicated that he was a mercenary and that he sought to buy the A-37 fighter aircraft to bomb a prison in Colombia that was housing Escobar.
Tomkins also allegedly discussed the need to purchase bombs for the A-37 and a Bell helicopter to survey the prison after the planned bombing to ensure that Escobar was dead. After an inspection of the fighter jet, Tompkins provided undercover ICE agents with $25,000 as a down payment for the aircraft in December 1991, according to the indictment.
Subsequently, Tompkins suddenly fled the country. He later called agents from London, telling them that he had received a phone call in which he was warned that he was the target of a federal sting. In April 1994, a federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida issued an indictment alleging that Tompkins had conspired to export an A-37 fighter jet without obtaining the required State Department export license, in violation of the Arms Export Control Act.
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