ISU student arrested on conspiracy charge

Staff Writer

An ISU graduate student was arrested early Wednesday by Ames Police on a federal warrant and taken into custody by U.S. Customs officials in Des Moines, according to the arrest report.Tauquir Ahmed Khan, graduate student in electrical and computer engineering, was taken into police custody at 8:45 a.m., according to the report. Khan, a citizen of Rawalpindi, Pakistan, was arrested as part of the U.S. Customs Operation Raven. Khan was charged with conspiracy for his involvement in the purchasing of pan-tilt zoom cameras and other military equipment, according to information from KCCI Channel 8 Television in Des Moines. Tanzeem Khan, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Kansas, was also arrested in the operation.The two men planned to export the equipment, which is used to spot enemy targets and other forms of surveillance, to Pakistan, according to KCCI. Customs officials got wind of the operation when the men applied for the export license required to ship the paraphernalia. Posing as suppliers, customs officials have been investigating the case for the past four months.Kahn was in the United States on a student visa and was living at 3426 Orion Drive in Ames