France ranks ninth with shipments worth more than $26 billion a year.
Over the next eight months, Afghanistan's security forces look forward to receiving a series of arms shipments worth $2.7bn that Nato planners have dubbed the "iron mountain".
Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International, a trade association based in San Jose, Calif., said equipment suppliers worldwide had reported shipments worth $5.6 billion, a 56percentt drop from the $13 billion in the 2000 period and a 20percentt drop from the second quarter of this year.
The arrests unveiled a criminal conspiracy of stunning duration, prosecutors said, in which the baggage handlers moved drug shipments worth tens of millions of dollars through the airport with virtual impunity.
It recently opened a new clearing house at the Toluca Airport outside Mexico City that enables local customs agents to clear shipments worth less than $200 on the day they arrive.
They said that the ivory in just one shipment was worth $165,000.
(The Chinese company accused by Goldarrow denied any involvement. The trader left China after Goldarrow agreed to provide shipment documents worth three hundred and fifty thousand dollars).
Officials say details in court hearings revealed that the barge shipment was worth $2 million and apparently brought Trammo $150,000 in profit.
