Cases based on undercover acts seem to be increasing, say Boyd and Clif Burns, a Washington, D.C., lawyer who follows export law prosecutions.

Part of the rise, Boyd says, stems from programs that encourage defense contractors to report suspicious approaches promptly to the federal government. Federal agents representing themselves as employees of technology firms then contact the illicit dealers.

In the Li case, court papers allege that she contacted a California defense manufacturer who referred her to a company that had helped perform illegal exports in the past. That company in reality was an undercover storefront set up by federal agents.

Court filings describe several other recent undercover cases:

•On Oct. 5, two Ogden, Utah, men were charged with attempting to export fighter jet components to undercover agents posing as Canadian buyers. The agents had seen the fighter parts, which are coveted by Iran, on the men's website and made contact over the Internet. The indictment alleges that the agents paid the men about $40,000 in cash during a Las Vegas meeting.

•In 2006, a Taiwanese man pleaded guilty in Florida to attempting to acquire and ship cruise missiles, air-to-air missiles, and fighter plane and helicopter engines to China. The case was based in part on conversations recorded by a federal agent posing as an arms dealer.

The increased use of undercover operations shows the government's commitment to stopping illegal exports, says Charles Beardall, director of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service.

"These are very manpower-intensive (because) an undercover agent … is not doing any other cases," Beardall says. "But it's something we've really got to dedicate ourselves to."

However, such operations may open the government to charges of entrapment, attorney Burns says.

"Some behavior (in an indictment) can appear to be fairly significant — if true," Burns says. "That's the key word here —if true."

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