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2 Lebanese men held in US on charges of weapons smuggling
来源： 编辑：编辑部 发布：2018/11/16 08:54:48
TWO Lebanese nationals have been remanded in custody in the US on charges of conspiracy to violate the Arms Export Control Act. They were arrested while attempting to leave a Seattle warehouse where police discovered firearms stashed inside a vehicle.
The US Justice Department said Hicham Diab of Tripoli, Lebanon and Nafez El Mir, a Canadian citizen living in Lebanon, were in the process of hiding the firearms in a vehicle they planned to ship to Lebanon at the time of their arrest by Homeland Security Investigations and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents, reported American Shipper.
According to a criminal complaint, Diab started communicating in 2016 with a person in the US who Diab believed was willing to locate firearms for him to smuggle to Lebanon. The person in the US alerted HSI about the contact.
During 2017 and 2018, undercover HSI agents posed as firearms suppliers for Diab. In October Diab made plans to come to the US and wired funds to purchase the firearms and a vehicle in which to conceal the weapons. Diab arrived in Seattle last Wednesday and was accompanied by El Mir who, according to Diab, had experience smuggling firearms hidden in automobile panels.
If convicted, conspiracy to violate the Arms Control Export Act carries a prison sentence of up to five years.
The US Justice Department said Hicham Diab of Tripoli, Lebanon and Nafez El Mir, a Canadian citizen living in Lebanon, were in the process of hiding the firearms in a vehicle they planned to ship to Lebanon at the time of their arrest by Homeland Security Investigations and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents, reported American Shipper.
According to a criminal complaint, Diab started communicating in 2016 with a person in the US who Diab believed was willing to locate firearms for him to smuggle to Lebanon. The person in the US alerted HSI about the contact.
During 2017 and 2018, undercover HSI agents posed as firearms suppliers for Diab. In October Diab made plans to come to the US and wired funds to purchase the firearms and a vehicle in which to conceal the weapons. Diab arrived in Seattle last Wednesday and was accompanied by El Mir who, according to Diab, had experience smuggling firearms hidden in automobile panels.
If convicted, conspiracy to violate the Arms Control Export Act carries a prison sentence of up to five years.