Warrant Issued for Suspect in Alleged Export to Israel of Nuclear Device Triggers

An arrest warrant was issued Wednesday for a Huntington Beach businessman who failed to appear at a hearing in Los Angeles federal court in advance of his trial next week on charges that he illegally exported electronic triggering devices to Israel.

The two-inch triggers, known as krytrons, can be used in nuclear weapons, federal investigators said.

Assistant U.S. Atty. William F. Fahey, who is prosecuting the case, said Richard K. Smyth, 55, failed to appear for a scheduled hearing before U.S. District Judge Pamela Ann Rymer.

Smyth, owner of Milco International, has been free on $100,000 bond since he pleaded not guilty June 3 to charges in a 30-count indictment accusing him of illegally sending 800 krytrons to Israel.

‘We’re Looking for Him’

“It’s a non-bail warrant and we’re looking for him,” Fahey said. “Hopefully, if we find him, we can start the trial next week (Tuesday).”

When Alan Croll, Smyth’s Los Angeles attorney, could not locate his client at the downtown Federal Courthouse, Rymer ordered that a warrant be issued for the defendant’s arrest, Fahey said.

Croll declined to discuss Smyth’s whereabouts Wednesday but said it would be incorrect to say that his client had “fled.”

Rymer was to have considered several motions at Wednesday’s hearing, including a defense motion to dismiss the indictment.

At his arraignment, Smyth claimed innocence, saying that he had no idea that the electronic triggering devices could be used for nuclear weapons when he shipped them to Israel between January, 1980, and December, 1982.

Special Licenses

Smyth said that special export licenses were not required for the shipment of the triggers and added that the devices were not listed among items prohibited for export from the United States without government permission.

“I’m astounded by the indictment,” he said at the time.

Israeli officials assured U.S. authorities that the devices would not be used for any military purposes. Instead, the Israelis said, the krytrons would be used for conventional military and non-military uses, such as in lasers and radar.