07MADRID1952: SPANISH DEMARCHES ON ODYSSEY ONCE AGAIN

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ID 07MADRID1952SUBJECT SPANISH DEMARCHES ON ODYSSEY ONCE AGAINDATE 2007-10-10 12:12:00CLASSIFICATION UNCLASSIFIEDORIGIN Embassy MadridTEXT UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MADRID 001952

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/ATAGS: PBTS PHSA SCUL SP UKSUBJECT: SPANISH DEMARCHES ON ODYSSEY ONCE AGAIN

REF: STATE 138377 AND PREVIOUS

MADRID 00001952 001.2 OF 002

¶1. (SBU) On October 9, Foreign Ministry Deputy Director forNorth American Affairs Fernando Prieto presented a nonpaperto desk officer Elaine Samson and EconOff reinforcing theGOS' desire to obtain broader access to the Odyssey importdocuments into the U.S. and requesting that the U.S. conductan investigation of potential violations of U.S. law on thepart of Odyssey Marine Exploration company.

¶2. (SBU) The text of the message, which was presented inEnglish, is as follows:

Further to the meetings of 27 September 2007 and 3rd October2007 with Mr. Bellinger, Legal Advisor, U.S. Department ofState, here is a reply to the points raised by him on the twoSpanish requests included in the Non Paper dated 24thSeptember 2007.

Request A: That the documents presented by Odyssey MarineExploration (OME) for entry into the U.S. of certainarchaeological goods be released for confidential use.

¶1. Release of the documents is requested forconfidential use in investigation of potential violations of

SIPDISapplication U.S. Customs and Spanish laws concerning theextraction and shipment of these goods, and in judicialproceedings that may arise from enforcement of the relevantUnited States and Spanish Laws.

¶2. Additionally, there is reason to believe that thematerials imported by OME are property of the Kingdom ofSpain taken from the sea and imported to the U.S. inviolation of Spanish law. The importation of these materialsmay accordingly be subject to U.S. Customs laws as materialsimported contrary to relevant U.S. and Spanish law concerningthe protection of national property, military property andhistorical/cultural heritage. In particular, availableinformation indicates that the documents contain specificinformation with respect to the location from which thematerials were taken and identification of the nationalityand the dates of coins and other artifacts. This informationis believed to provide confirmation that the materials inquestion were taken from a warship of the Royal Navy of Spainthat sank in battle during the early 19th Century and areproperty of the Royal Treasury of the Kingdom of Spain thatwas being transported by this vessel in service of theKingdom Spain. Release of the requested documents isnecessary to investigate the application of such laws and toassist U.S. Customs and such other competent U.S. agencies asmay be authorized to have access to the documents forpurposes of potential enforcement proceedings.

¶3. The agencies of the Government of Spain that havecompetence in the investigation of this matter and/or injudicial enforcement proceedings, and to which the documentswould therefore be made available: Spanish Customs, Ministryof Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Ministry of Culture,Ministry of Justice, Spanish Navy. It is understood that thedocuments shall be held in confidence by authorizedrepresentatives of the competent Spanish agencies and usedonly for investigation and/or enforcement proceedings inSpain and/or the U.S.

Request B: That the possible violation by OME of U.S.customs or other rules be fully investigated and prosecuted

by U.S. authorities.

¶1. U.S. Customs laws OME might have violated: 18 U.S.C.Section 542 which prohibits the importation of materials bymeans of false statements; 18 U.S.C Section 545, whichprohibits the importation of goods to the U.S. in violationof any law (which may include Spanish law); and 19 U.S.C.Section 1595a, which provides for seizure and forfeiture ofgoods imported in violation of relevant laws.

¶2. The available information indicates that theimportation of these materials may have occurred by means offalse and/or misleading statements concerning the country oforigin, ownership, value, legal status, and/or othercharacteristics of the imported materials. Additionally, asnoted above, to the extent that specific information as tothe location and identifying characteristics of the materialswas provided in the documents, it is believed to constituteevidence of the taking and shipment to the U.S. of nationalproperty of Spain in violation of Spanish law concerning suchproperty and corresponding U.S. laws concerning theimportation of such property.

¶3. Should additional information concerning this matterbe needed at this stage, it would be provided on request on a

MADRID 00001952 002.2 OF 002

confidential basis. An investigative dossier is currently

SIPDISbeing assembled concerning the available evidence, for whichthe requested documents are needed, and will be madeavailable to the U.S. Customs, the Department of State andsuch other U.S. agencies as may be deemed appropriate by theU.S.

LLORENSHEADER VZCZCXRO5536

PP RUEHRNDE RUEHMD #1952/01 2831206ZNR UUUUU ZZHP 101206Z OCT 07FM AMEMBASSY MADRIDTO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3597INFO RUEHSS/OECD POSTS COLLECTIVERUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 1002RUEHLA/AMCONSUL BARCELONA 3118

XTAGS: XTAGPBTS, XTAGPHSA, XTAGSCUL, XTAGSP, XTAGUK

ADDED 2010-12-08 23:11:00STAMP 2010-12-09 12:08:47VOTE_POINTS 9VOTE_COUNT 1VOTE_RATING 9000PRIORITY PPTWEETS 0