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Tag: firearms

  • US Army Major nabbed for smuggling guns into Ghana, faces 20-year jail term

    US Army Major nabbed for smuggling guns into Ghana, faces 20-year jail term

    A Ghanaian living in the US as an army officer, Kojo Owusu Dartey, has been found guilty of multiple charges, including smuggling goods from the United States, unauthorized dealing in firearms, delivery of firearms without proper notice, illegal exportation of firearms, providing false statements to a U.S. agency, making deceptive declarations in court, and engaging in conspiracy.

    Dartey faces a maximum penalty of 240 months when sentenced on July 23, 2024.

    Court documents and evidence provided by the United States Attorney’s Office reveal that between June 28 and July 2, 2021, Dartey acquired seven firearms in the Fort Liberty region.

    Furthermore, he enlisted the help of a U.S. Army Staff Sergeant stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, to procure three firearms and forward them to him in North Carolina.

    Dartey is said to have hidden the firearms, including multiple handguns, an AR15, 50-round magazines, suppressors, and a combat shotgun, inside blue barrels underneath rice and household goods.

    These barrels were smuggled out of the Port of Baltimore, Maryland, on a container ship destined for Ghana. The Ghana Revenue Authority seized the firearms and reported the seizure to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Baltimore Field Division.

    Michael Easley, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, made the announcement after Chief U.S. District Judge Richard E. Myers II accepted the verdict. The ATF, Army Criminal Investigation Division and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Office of Export Enforcement investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gabriel J. Diaz prosecuted it with technical assistance from David Ryan, DOJ Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.

    “We are partnering with law enforcement agencies across the globe to expose international criminals – from money launderers to rogue international arms traffickers capable of fueling violence abroad,” said U.S Attorney Michael Easley. 

    “Through a partnership with Ghanaian officials, this rogue Army Major was convicted at trial after smuggling guns to Ghana in blue barrels of rice and household goods. I want to thank the Ghana Revenue Authority and the International Cooperation Unit Office of the Attorney-General of Ghana for their assistance in the investigation. I also commend the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) attachés to U.S. Embassy Accra and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs of the Department’s Criminal Division for their significant assistance to this prosecution.”

    “Far from being a victimless crime, firearms trafficking threatens public safety across our nation and beyond,” said Toni M. Crosby, Special Agent in Charge of the ATF Baltimore Field Division.

    “The Baltimore Field Division is proud to partner with the Ghana Revenue Authority and ATF’s Charlotte and Louisville Field Divisions for this investigation, which has kept firearms off the streets — preventing them from being used in any number of killings and other crimes — and ended this international firearm trafficking scheme.”

    In a surprising turn of events, it was discovered that Dartey lied on the stand about his sexual relationship with a defense witness while serving as a witness in the trial of U.S. v. Agyapong.

    This trial involved a marriage fraud scheme between soldiers on Fort Liberty and foreign nationals from Ghana.

  • US Army Major found guilty of smuggling firearms into Ghana

    US Army Major found guilty of smuggling firearms into Ghana

    A Ghanaian based US Army Major officer named Kojo Owusu Dartey has been found guilty by a jury of smuggling guns to Ghana. He hid the guns in blue barrels filled with rice and other household items.

    The 42-year-old officer, who works at Fort Liberty, could be sentenced to 20 years in prison. The sentence will be announced on July 23, 2024.

    US and Ghanaian authorities worked together to find and charge someone for selling weapons across borders. Dartey was accused of selling guns without permission, sending guns without telling the carrier, bringing goods into the US illegally, sending guns out of the country without permission, lying to a US agency, lying in court, and working with others to commit a crime.

    The US Attorney Michael Easley said thank you for working together with officials from Ghana. He mentioned how the Ghana Revenue Authority and the International Cooperation Unit Office of the Attorney-General of Ghana helped with the investigation. He also thanked the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents in Accra, and the US Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs for their support.

    Toni Mrewritten as Simple words: Toni M. Crosby, who is in charge of the ATF Baltimore Field Division, talked about how trafficking guns is bad for public safety. He also praised the joint investigation that stopped guns from getting into the hands of criminals.

    In June and July 2021, the court found out that Dartey got seven guns in Fort Liberty and told a soldier at Fort Campbell to buy three more for him. These guns, like pistols and a type of rifle, along with lots of bullets, attachments to make them quieter, and a powerful shotgun, were hidden in blue barrels with food and other things and sent from one port in the US to another port in Ghana.

    The Ghana Revenue Authority found some guns and told the DEA and ATF about it. Dartey was also a person who saw what happened during the trial in the United States. I would be happy to help, but it looks like there is no text provided for me to rewrite. Can you please provide the text that you would like me to simplify. AgyapongDartey told officials about a marriage fraud scheme between 16 soldiers and people from Ghana at Fort Liberty. Before the trial, Dartey told federal law enforcement a lie about his sexual relationship with a witness for the defence. Then, he also lied on the witness stand and when he swore to tell the truth.

    The Ghana Revenue Authority found the guns, which caused a big reaction from US agencies around the world. At the same time, Dartey was part of another trial as a witness. He gave the police wrong information about personal things and lied in court about a relationship, which caused more charges against him.

    The ATF, Army Criminal Investigation Division, and the US Department of Commerce’s Office of Export Enforcement looked into the case. Assistant US Attorney Gabriel J. led the prosecution. Diaz received help from David Ryan, who is an expert in technical matters from the Department of Justice’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section. The head judge in the US agreed with the decision.

  • Downtown smoke shop accused of trafficking illicit narcotics and firearms

    Downtown smoke shop accused of trafficking illicit narcotics and firearms

    A store in downtown Edmonton has been caught selling illegal weapons and things used for drugs, according to the police.

    Edmonton Police are looking into 5 Star Gift and Smoke Shop on 107 Avenue because people in the neighborhood have complained about violence.

    On Thursday, police took 10 sword canes, over 120 cans of bear spray, five cattle prods that look like flashlights, and many butterfly knives and brass knuckles during a search.

    The police also found illegal tobacco and a plant called khat, which is believed to have stimulating effects.

    The 41-year-old person who owns a store has been charged with selling weapons and illegally moving them around.

    This news story is still being updated. Come back later for more information.

  • Ghanaian resident in US admits guilt in unlawful export of firearms to Ghana

    Ghanaian resident in US admits guilt in unlawful export of firearms to Ghana

    A Ghanaian based in Columbia, Maryland, Eric Nana Kofi Ampong Coker, has pleaded guilty to illegally exporting firearms to Ghana from the United States of America.

    According to the United State Attorney’s Office of the District of Maryland, Ampong Coker, on Thursday, June 8, 2023, confessed to exporting firearms to Ghana without the required license or written approval to export the weapons.

    The district attorney’s office indicated that Ampong Coker, since 2017, has purchased at least 81 firearms from three separate Maryland Federal Firearms Licensees (“FFLs”)

    It added that in 2019 the accused person received a Regulated Firearms Collector status through the Maryland State Police, which waived the restriction on the number of firearms he could purchase during a 30-day period.

    “In May 2021, federal agents surveilled Ampong Coker as he retrieved firearms purchased from one of the FFLs and was then observed in a variety of locations, including a business that packaged and shipped items from the Port of Baltimore. A shipping vehicle was subsequently seen departing that location on May 27, 2021. On May 29, 2021, Ampong Coker was searched as he was departing the United States from Detroit, Michigan, bound for Ghana. Among other items seized in his luggage were foam cutouts used for packaging and securing firearms in gun cases.

    “In early June 2021, HSI and CBP agents identified a shipping container scheduled to depart the Port of Baltimore for Tema, Ghana, on June 14, 2021. Included in the listed contents of the container was a 2018 Toyota Corolla registered to Ampong Coker.

    “…On June 8, 2021, HSI, ATF, CBP and other agents searched the contents of the shipping container. Within the trunk of the 2018 Toyota Corolla, which had the Defendant’s name on cardboard on top of the vehicle, the agents found a grey suitcase. Secreted in the lining of the suitcase, the agents found five 9mm handguns previously purchased by Ampong Coker,” parts of a release issued by the state attorney’s office read.

    U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron indicated that Ampong Coker faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for illegally exporting firearms when he faces the court on September 6, 2023.