Two Lebanese nationals are in custody on charges of attempting to illegally export weapons hidden in a car.
Two Lebanese nationals are in custody on charges of attempting to illegally export weapons after their arrest last Thursday at a Seattle warehouse.
According to the U.S. Justice Department, Hicham Diab, of Tripoli, Lebanon, and Nafez El Mir, a Canadian citizen living in Lebanon, were in the process of hiding 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.
Diab and El Mir appeared in a federal court for the Western District of Washington on Friday and were charged with conspiracy to violate the Arms Export Control Act.
According to a criminal complaint, in 2016, Diab began communicating with a person in the U.S. who Diab believed was willing to locate firearms for him to smuggle to Lebanon. The person in the U.S. 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 U.S. and wired funds to buy the firearms and a vehicle in which to hide 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. The two were arrested after exiting the warehouse on Thursday.
If convicted, the two men face the possibility of serving prison time. Conspiracy to violate the Arms Control Export Act alone is punishable by up to five years in jail.
Alleged weapons smugglers nabbed in Seattle
