Former MGS advisor busted for weapon smuggling

Guess who’s trying to cash in on the  war economy. It’s an old member of the first Metal Gear Solid‘s technical advisor team. He was busted by federal officials for trying to illegally ship gun accessories to Japan while in active duty with the US Army. More after the jump.

 Federal authorities busted Capt. Tomoaki Iishiba  of the United States Army for attempting to ship 60 pieces of sophisticated holographic night vision gunsights to accomplices in Japan. He did this without a license to export and now faces conspiring to smuggle charges.

Iishiba was one of the original Metal Gear Solid‘s technical advisor who made sure that the game’s military references were accurate. He came to the US in 1993 to join his regiment. He also used to be a knife endorser.

The gunsights which he attempted to ship illegally to Japan were planned to go for sale in a website. The gunsights were listed at US$ 339 each.

An excerpt of the report on Iishba’s offense reads:

In a two-paragraph charging document filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle, prosecutors wrote that Tomoaki Iishiba bought 60 of the EoTech 553… then mailed them to coconspirators in Japan without obtaining an export license. The companyÂ’s Web site lists the sights at $639 apiece…

Prior to the incident, Iishiba was serving as an intelligence officer in Fort Lewis, Washington. He’s a veteran of Afghanistan and has also written a book in Japanese about his experiences in combat duty.

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Via Game Politics