U.S. arrests B.C. man, says he smuggled goods to Pakistan's atomic bomb program

A sign of the U.S. Department of Justice is seen on the headquarters building in Washington, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Jose Luis Magana

U.S. authorities have arrested a 67-year-old man from Surrey, B.C., accusing him of smuggling banned goods to Pakistan’s military and its nuclear weapons program over more than 15 years.

The U.S. Department of Justice said in a Friday news release that Mohammad Jawaid Aziz was arrested trying to cross into the United States from British Columbia on March 21.

The department said Aziz, also known as Jawaid Aziz Siddiqui and Jay Siddiqui, smuggled “millions of dollars” worth of export-controlled items from the United States to Pakistan, including industrial workstations, a thermal conductivity unit and a centrifugal pump.

“From as early as 2003 through approximately March 2019, Siddiqui operated an illicit procurement network through his Canada-based company Diversified Technology Services,” the release from the department said.

“The purpose of the network was to obtain U.S.-origin goods on behalf of prohibited entities in Pakistan that were associated with the country’s nuclear, missile, and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle programs.”

None of the allegations have been proven in court.

A young man answered the door Monday at the grey, multi-storey home in Surrey that U.S. authorities list as Aziz’s residence and the address of Diversified Technology Services.

He declined to comment on the situation.

The man, who did not identify himself, said “no” when asked if Aziz had legal representation who could comment on the case or confirm any details.

The Department of Justice said Aziz, a dual citizen of Pakistan and Canada, remained in custody in Seattle as of Monday, pending transfer to Minnesota where the defendant is set to appear in court and where the investigation is largely based.

The indictment says Pakistan first tested a nuclear bomb in 1998, and the United States has imposed export and re-export restrictions on the country and entities linked to the Pakistani military programs since then.

The partially unsealed indictment said Aziz owned and operated Diversified Technology Services and used the firm as part of a system to “willfully export … goods from the United States to entities in Pakistan that were designated on the Department of Commerce’s Entity List without first having obtained the required licenses.”

“Through Diversified Technology Services, along with other businesses he used for similar purposes, (Aziz) would approach U.S. companies about procuring the goods requested by the restricted Pakistani entities,” the indictment said.

The court document said those involved in the alleged scheme would then “submit quotes” to the restricted Pakistani entities based on U.S. pricing information and add an “upcharge” to profit from the transaction.

“If the restricted Pakistani entity accepted the co-conspirators’ offer, the defendants and their co-conspirators would effectuate payment for the goods and … cause the needed goods to be either exported directly to Pakistan, or transshipped to Pakistan through a third country,” the indictment said.

U.S. authorities say that the defendant would “at no time” reveal to companies in the United States that the goods they were selling would ultimately end up in the hands of a prohibited end-user in Pakistan.

Those end-users allegedly included Pakistan’s space agency, which the U.S. says develops the country’s ballistic missiles, and companies associated with the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission.

The indictment said some of the goods would be received by Aziz at his Surrey home, from where the products would then be shipped to Pakistan.

Among the items listed as having been allegedly illegally exported between 2013 and 2018 were close to US$800,000 of goods, including a laser interferometer worth more than US$200,000 used for measuring optical components.

Aziz faces charges of violating U.S. export laws and conspiracy. The export violations carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

The indictment says part of the operation that ensnared Aziz involved an undercover government agent posing as a representative of one of the U.S. companies.

This report by Chuck Chiang, The Canadian Press, was first published March 31, 2025.