Mexico has been riding turbulent waves over the past few weeks on a variety of fronts, including discord with the United States over a Pakistani fugitive, domestic insurgents declaring an alert, and improprieties by high-ranking political officials, including one who had only recently announced his presidential race, not to mention ongoing drug cartel warring and killings.

Arif Ali Durrani, a former US resident, is wanted in the US on charges of trafficking anti-aircraft missiles, which, notably, are not produced in Mexico, to Iran . He claims to have been part of the covert Iran-Contra affair. He was convicted in 1987 for shipping Hawk anti-aircraft missiles to Iran and served five years in prison. He was deported in 1998 and allegedly had been living in Mexico. A federal indictment was filed in 1999 and was unsealed on June 13, 2005. In 2003, Durrani petitioned to have his conviction overturned. He claimed to have been part of a trade of weapons for hostages in Lebanon and that Oliver North had told him to ship missiles to Iran without an export license. He was detained on June 12 by Mexican authorities in Baja California and then deported to Pakistan. During a lay-over at Los Angeles International Airport, he was arrested by US officials. Durrani was arrested, with Mexican authorities’ assistance, with three Afghani men and a Syrian; the latter four were detained on immigration violations and deported to the US. Durrani pled not guilty on June 20 to federal charges of exporting 110 fighter jet engine parts to foreign customers in 1994. These components are the main power source for the 1970s Tiger II fighter jet engine. These parts, which have “no other application other than for military use,” are considered defense articles and must be licensed by the State Department. His trial has been set for August 9, 2005.