Bulgarian man charged with exporting aircraft parts to Syria

MIAMI – Authorities say a Bulgarian man has been arrested for conspiring to defraud the U.S. and illegally exporting aircraft parts and equipment to Syria.

A U.S. Department of Justice news release says 29-year-old Zhelyaz Andreev faces federal charges in South Florida.

Court documents say Andreev was working in the Bulgaria office of AW-Tronics, a Miami export company, when he sold dual-use goods — articles with both civilian and military uses — to the government-owned Syrian Arab Airlines.

The release says the U.S. Department of Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control has blocked the airline for transporting weapons and ammunition to Syria in conjunction with Hezbollah, a terrorist organization, and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

It wasn’t immediately clear if Andreev had an attorney.