CONCORD, N.H. (AP) – A Hinsdale company that was raided by customs officers did not knowingly sell equipment to Iran, the company’s president said on Thursday.

Continental Cable Company was raided Wednesday morning. The officials took sales documents but not equipment, said Tyler Esche, the company’s president.

“They were gathering the documentation for a long period of time,” he said.

Eighteen U.S. businesses were searched as part of a probe into arms shipments to Iran, said Garrison Courtney, a spokesman for the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The investigation involved components for fighter jets, missiles and other weapons.

Courtney said the U.S. companies may have sold military equipment to Multicore Ltd., a London-based company that supplies the Iranian military. He said such sales were in violation of the Arms Export Control Act.

“These companies were exporting (military) items without a license,” he said. “These are things that you don’t want in the hands of bad people. A lot of these components can be used against our troops.”

Esche said his company sold equipment to Multicore Ltd. once last year, but said he did not know Multicore was connected to Iran. He also said his company usually does not pay attention to the Arms Control Act.

“Generally it’s not something that we are aware of having a need to know about. We’re not selling arms,” he said.

Continental Cable makes steel cable products sometimes used in military equipment, Esche said. He said most buyers contact them and ask for quotations on specific items before a sale is made.

The company has about 50 employees.

Multicore Ltd., also known as AKS Industries, has been under U.S. and British investigation since February 1999.

On Wednesday officials searched businesses in 10 states: Louisiana, Texas, New Hampshire, Colorado, New York, Oregon, Florida, Kansas, Wisconsin and South Carolina. Continental Cable Company was the only New Hampshire business searched.

Agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Defense Criminal Investigative Service also served seven grand jury subpoenas on the firms, but no charges were immediately brought and no arrests were made.

AP-ES-07-10-03 1659EDT

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