Persons Associated with Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) Arrested

Ottawa - August 21, 2006— In recent days, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has executed
two search warrants and arrested one person under authority of a provisional warrant in Canada. The arrest is part of a joint operation involving the RCMP and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Canadian resident, Suresh Sriskandarajah, age 26, arrested under the provisional warrant is awaiting extradition to the U.S.

Generally speaking, the RCMP does not reveal details regarding operational police matters in order to protect the privacy rights of individuals; to protect our investigations; and most importantly, to protect all Canadians.

Nevertheless, the following information can be confirmed: the investigation is a joint operation of the FBI and RCMP, specifically, the RCMP national security program and the Integrated National Security Enforcement Team (INSET) in Toronto, Ontario, and other US law enforcement partners. Several persons associated with the LTTE have been charged in the US for terrorist procurement activities. According to U.S. authorities, those persons are:

• Sathajhan Sarachandran, age 26
• Sahilal Sabaratnam, age 27
• Thiruthanikan Thanigasalam, age 37
• Nadarasa Yograrasa, age 52
• Murugesu Vinayagamoorthy, age 57
• Nachimuthu Socrates, age 54
• Vijayshanthar Patpanathan, age 44
• Thirukumaran Sivasubramaniam, age 27
  

Of these eight, three are Canadian residents.

The RCMP is continuing to pursue the Canadian component of this investigation with the potential to lay criminal charges in the future. There is no known direct threat against Canada.

These arrests demonstrate how integrated policing and international cooperation enhance the ability of the law enforcement community to protect the safety and security of the public. This has been and continues to be a complex and intensive investigation involving many partners.

As this investigation is ongoing, it is inappropriate to provide additional details at this time.

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For media enquiries, please contact:

Sgt. Michele Paradis
NCO I/C Corporate Communications and Media Relations RCMP 'O' Division
Office: 416-952-4619
Mobile: 416-992-4409
Pager: 416-715-2375

For more information, please see: http://newyork.fbi.gov/press.htm