VZCZCXYZ0003
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBO #0093/01 0271809
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
R 271809Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2273
INFO RHMFISS/FBI WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/HQ BICE INTEL WASHINGTON DC
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK 0001
RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
RUEHZP/AMEMBASSY PANAMA
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC

S E C R E T BOGOTA 000093 

NOFORN 
SIPDIS 
PM/DTCC - BLUE LANTERN COORDINATOR 

E.O. 12958: DECL: 25X1- HUMAN 
TAGS: ETTC KOMC SNAR CO TH PM
SUBJECT: BLUE LANTERN RESPONSE: TAA 0361-04F AND TAA 4140-08D 

REF: STATE 369; BOGOTA 3361 

CLASSIFIED BY: Timothy Stater, Economic Counselor, DoS, Econ; REASON: 
1.4C 

¶1.            (S//NF)  Summary.  Blue Lantern Officer consulted 
with the Defense Attache Office, US MilitaryGroup (MILGROUP), FBI 
and DEA regarding the accuracy of  intelligence reports listed in 
ref A.   DEA confirmed the derogatory information in ref A, linking 
Vertical de Aviacion to Helitaxi, Helicol and Byron Lopez Salazar 
-- a known money-launderer.  In light of this information, Post 
does not recommend issuance of a license to Vertical de Aviacion to 
import goods on the U.S. Munitions List. 



¶2.            (U)   Other information requested in ref A is 
provided below.  End Summary. 



¶3.            (S//NF)   At the time of the initial Blue Lantern 
pre-licensing verification request for Vertical de Aviacion, no 
derogatory information was found on the company or its owner and 
CEO, as listed on the business registration provided to Post by the 
company (ref B).   The Department subsequently provided derogatory 
information about Helitaxi, the previous name of Vertical de 
Aviacion, and its owner Byron Lopez Salazar, and requested another 
review. 



¶4.            (S//NF)  Per ref A, BlueLanternOff verified that DEA 
has derogatory information on Helitaxi, the previous name of 
Vertical de Aviacion.  DEA confirms that the owner of Helitaxi, 
Byron Lopez Salazar, is a known money-launderer.  His name is 
indexed in 20 DEA case files.  However, the Colombian business 
registration of Vertical de Aviacion does not list Byron Lopez 
Salazar as an owner, although a Dunn & Bradstreet check does. 
According to officials at Vertical de Aviacion, the current owner 
is Mauricio Lopez Espinosa, son of Byron Lopez, and the CEO is 
another son, Fernando Lopez Espinosa.  DEA has no derogatory 
information on either son.  Fernando Lopez is a dual U.S. and 
Colombian citizen.



¶5.            (SBU)  The parent company of Vertical de Aviacion is 
Icaro International Services, which owns 80% of the company.  Angie 
Garcia (tel: 202-246-6814), the Executive Assistant at Vertical de 
Aviacion's offices in Washington, D.C.,  reported the following 
information requested, per ref A, for Icaro International Services: 



President:  Julio Cesar Morales Vega 

Treasurer:  Myriam Vega de Morales 

Secretary:  Carlos Neira 

Address:  Calle 64 Casa No. 21 Corregimiento San Francisco 

                                    Ciudad de Panama, Republica de 
Panama 

Phone: (570) 226 3780 

Fax: (570) 226 9296 

Mobile: (570) 649 10464 

Email:  jcmorales@cableonda.net 



Panamanian ID and registration number: 

Ficha: 235862 

Rollo:  30053 

Imagen: 53 



Panamanian Agency/Office that maintains Icaro International 
Services' registration records: 

Registro Publio de Panama

Phone: 501-6000 

Address:  ViaEspana, Calle 67A, Frente a la Clinica San Fernando 

Web address:  https://www.registro-publico.gob.pa/ 



Date of Registration of Icaro International Services:  July 26, 
1990 



According to Fernando Lopez, Icaro International Services does not 
own any other companies. 



¶6.            (SBU)  Vertical de Aviacion reports the following 
Russian national employees: 



Name (Last, First) 
Colombian ID    Passport 



a.     BABKINE VALERI                           260582 50 
No.0313217 

b.     BOLCHOUKHINE NIKOLAI               271024 51 
No.0396498 

c.     BOTALOV ALEXANDER                   300164 60 
No.5871640 

d.     CHEVKOUNOV MIKHAIL                 312838 51 
No.1482814 

e.     DEMIANENKO SERGUEI                 310530 51 
No.1482774 

f.      DOUBENTCHOUK VASSILI              266722 60 
No.5510346 

g.     DOUCHKOV VALERI                       271023 51 
No.0396392 

h.     ELISEEV ANDREY                          363054 63 
No.5057723 

i.      IANOVCHKEVICH VITALI                 286467 51 
No.0396319 

j.      LEONTIEV ALEXANDRE                  270998 50 
No.0313180 

k.     LUKASHEVICH ALEXANDER           286466 60         No.5582896 

l.      MALIOUTINE ANATOLI                    266942 51 
No.0396485 

m.   ORLOV ALEXEY                             376090 70 
No.3376251 

n.     PALIANOV ANDREI                         273305 51 
No.0396456 

o.     RADYGINE SERGUEI                      273203 51 
No.0396457 

p.     SALMINE ALEXANDER                    311150 51 
No.1483684 

q.     SAZONOV GRIGORI                        320285 51 
No.0614006 

r.      SHUSPANOV SERGEY                   350692 63 
No.1219216 

s.       UMYCHEV VICTOR                         312392 51 
No.1482751 



¶7.            (S//NF)  A background check on the name Icaro
International Services in DEA databases shows that the company was 
flagged for suspicious banking activity in 1997. 



¶8.            (S//NF)  BlueLanternOff consulted with MILGROUP, who 
confirmed that they have a current air transport agreement with 
Vertical de Aviacion.  This contract is now under review by its 
contracting officer as a result of this Blue Lantern investigation. 



¶9.            (SBU)  In light of this information, Post does not 
recommend issuance of a license to Vertical de Aviacion to import 
goods on the U.S. Munitions List. 
BROWNFIELD