Two Russian nationals and a U.S. citizen were arrested in Denver due to illegal export of sensitive military technology overseas. The offense is a federal crime considered as a threat to national security, and can lead up to 20 years in prison with chances of paying up to $1 million in fines.

According to Reuters, the Justice Department said that Dmitrii Aleksandrovich Karpenko and Alexey Krutilin were arrested on charges of conspiring with Alexey Barysheff, a naturalized U.S. citizen. Apparently, their intention was to send cutting edge micro-technology to Russia from American suppliers, evading government controls.

Modus operandi

The Russian nationals represented themselves as employees of Spectra and UIP, without telling the U.S. manufacturers that they were going to export the electronics. As reported by Gothamist, these were first shipped to Finland and was intended to be sent to Russia without raising suspicion. For the moment, it is not proved that Vladimir Putin´s government is behind these actions, which could represent a major diplomatic issue not only for U.S. President Obama, but also for the next U.S. leader.

An attack to U.S. sovereignty

The tension between the two nations has escalated since it was known that Russian hackers tried to breach state voter registration database with the intention of interfere in the American elections. Some official says that the Kremlin could the mastermind behind this operation, which could mean an attack on the U.S. sovereignty, made directly by a foreign government.

However, presidential candidate Donald Trump questioned, during his debate against Democrat Nominee Hillary Clinton, the Russian involvement in these cyber attacks, explaining that the perpetrators could be from China or an obese person. "She says, Russia, Russia, Russia, it could be China. You don't know who broke into the DNC. It also could be somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds," Trump said.