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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Federal authorities say a business in a small Utah town tried to ship rifle scopes to Russia and China without a license.
The U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security will block exports by X-TREME Motors, LLC. for about six months after customs authorities say they found 200 mislabeled shipments from the company over the last month, according to a statement from the agency.
Federal officials say the West Haven company tried to duck regulations by claiming the packages contained all-terrain vehicle parts when about 20 held rifle scopes addressed to locations in countries like Russia and China that require an export license. Officials detained a total of 50 shipments from the company.
The 6-year-old business primarily buys damaged ATVs and snowmobiles and sells the parts around the world through eBay, spokesman Chuck Duncan said. A few months ago the owners decided to add weapons accessories for hunters.
The owners got a state license to sell the products like scopes, bullets and rifle stocks online under the name XTREME Outdoor Store, said Duncan. They didn't realize they needed to follow separate regulations to sell to people in certain countries and accidently mislabeled the packages as ATV parts, he said.
"We actually have screwed up as a company," said Duncan. "We made some mistakes, we got the message and we'll fix it."
The number of packages addressed to locations flagged by authorities was very small, he said, and the items appeared to be for personal use. The owners plan to stop selling the weapons accessories, he said.
West Haven is located about 40 miles north of Salt Lake City.
The Bureau of Industry and Security controls the export of certain items for national security, crime control and other reasons, according to the statement. The agency took similar action in January to prevent the re-export of U.S. aircraft engines to Iran.
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