RCMP allege two former UN employees in Montreal attempted to sell military drones in Libya

MONTREAL — Two former United Nations employees in Montreal have been charged with taking part in a conspiracy to sell Chinese-made drones capable of carrying multiple missiles and other military equipment in Libya, the RCMP said Tuesday.

RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Charles Poirier said the alleged crimes took place between 2018 and 2021, when the two men worked at the International Civil Aviation Organization, a U.N. agency headquartered in Montreal.

He said the two men – Fathi Ben Ahmed Mhaouek, 61, and Mahmud Mohamed Elsuwaye Sayeh, 37 – violated UN sanctions over the Libyan civil war. The sanctions have the force of law in Canada through federal regulations.

“What we found is that they were trying to sell this Chinese military equipment to Libya through some shell companies, which is a direct violation of the regulation,” Poirier said, adding that the military equipment included large drones that can carry multiple missiles.

Poirier said the regulation bans anyone in Canada from supplying military equipment to factions that fought in Libya’s civil war or helping to finance those groups. The alleged conspiracy, he said, would have benefited one of the two main factions in the conflict, which ended in 2020.

“The second part of this plan was to export Libyan oil to China,” Poirier said. “So at that time the oil fields were under the control of General Khalifa Hiftar and the plan was to sell millions of barrels of crude oil to China without anyone knowing about it.”

Hiftar’s self-styled Libyan National Army fought against Libya’s UN-backed government and occupied much of the country’s east during the civil war; he remains a powerful figure in that region.

Poirier said Mhaouek, a Canadian citizen, was arrested Tuesday morning at his home in the suburb of Ste-Catherine, Que. of Montreal, and that he would appear in a Montreal court later in the day.

Mhaouek’s alleged accomplice is still on the run. An INTERPOL Red Notice (a warning sent to police worldwide) and a Canada-wide warrant have been issued for Sayeh’s arrest.

Poirier said investigators have no evidence that military equipment or crude oil ever reached their alleged final destinations, but he said if they had, the two co-conspirators could have been making several million dollars a month in commissions.

“The theory behind the motivation is mainly financial in nature,” he said. However, it would also have benefited China by allowing it to covertly support Hiftar’s faction and by giving the country excellent access to Libyan oil.

Poirier said the investigation began in 2022 after the RCMP received what he described as “credible information.”

Both men enjoyed diplomatic immunity because of their work at the UN, he said, adding that their immunity had to be waived by ICAO before the two men could be charged.

He said the U.N. agency, which sets international aviation standards, had cooperated with the police investigation. “There is no indication that ICAO was aware of the conspiracy until contacted by us,” Poirier said.

He said police do not know where Sayeh, a Libyan national, might be.

“He could be in Libya, but with the level of influence and network these guys had at ICAO, he could be anywhere,” Poirier said.

The U.N. civil aviation agency said in an emailed statement that it is committed to upholding Canadian laws, U.N. standards and its own code of ethics.

“ICAO is fully cooperating with the RCMP investigation into the individuals involved in the complaint who left the organization several years ago,” the agency said. “ICAO strongly condemns any actions by individuals that conflict with the values ​​of the organization.”

The agency declined to comment further due to the ongoing legal proceedings.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 23, 2024.

— With files from The Associated Press.

Jacob Serebrin, The Canadian Press