2 held in Taliban arms deal brought to NYC

Two naturalized United States citizens were extradited from Romania to Manhattan Friday to face charges that they conspired to sell weapons to the Taliban, including surface-to-air missiles to be used to protect heroin labs in Afghanistan.

The two suspects, Alwar Pouryan, 36, and Oded Orbach, 52, were arrested in Bucharest in February and remained in the custody of Romanian authorities until their extradition Friday, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement.

The defendants are two of seven people charged by the United States in February with plotting to smuggle drugs and sell missiles to the Taliban. The defendants are accused of meeting with confidential sources working with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration who pretended to be representing the Taliban starting in the summer of 2010, Bharara said.

During meetings in Ghana, Ukraine and Romania starting in November, Pouryan, Orbach and a co-conspirator, Maroun Saade, allegedly agreed to arrange the sale of weapons to the informers, the statement said.

Saade allegedly introduced the sources to Pouryan, who Saade said was an arms trafficker affiliated with Hezbollah, the statement said. Pouryan and Orbach then met with the confidential sources and discussed "specifications, pricing and the provision of training for the sale of various weapons," including surface-to-air and anti-tank missiles, grenade launchers, AK-47s and M-16s.

Saade, Pouryan and Orbach are charged with conspiracy to provide material support and resources to terrorists, which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, and conspiracy to acquire and transfer anti-aircraft missiles, which carries a maximum of life in prison with a mandatory minimum of 25 years.

Saade was arrested in Monrovia, Liberia, in February and pleaded not guilty in a court appearance then.

-- Bloomberg News