[NEWS] 3 Men Caught In U.S For Illegal Importation Of Arms And Ammunition To Nigeria

 

New headline.

The United States government has Charged three men with attempted illegal Importation of arms and ammunition to Nigeria.

  Announcing the new indictment on Friday, the US Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland said the defendants conspired with each other and others to export from the US to Nigeria “defence items and items identified on the States Ammunition List United States (USML) and the Trade Control List (CCL) without first obtaining export licenses.  ”

  They supposedly made these changes from at least November 2017 to July 19, 2019.

  “The defendants also conspired to conceal from the United States that these items were being shipped from the port of Baltimore, Maryland, to Nigeria and at least one other location in Africa.

 "The defendants and their co-conspirators allegedly contributed funds to purchase firearms, ammunition, reloading materials and other equipment for shipment abroad," the statement announcing the passing of the indictments by a federal grand jury on Thursday , read in part .

 The prosecution also alleged that the defendants and their co-conspirators communicated their efforts and plans to ship weapons and ammunition using an online encrypted messaging application and code words to hide their activities.

 As detailed in the indictment, the defendants and other conspirators hid the firearms, ammunition, rifle sights and other items in tightly wrapped packages and canvas pouches, and inside sealed compression units, placing these items in a designated container. to Nigeria without obtaining the necessary licenses from the US Department of State and the US Department of Commerce,” the statement added.

  It further stated that, as part of the conspiracy, "one of the co-conspirators allegedly caused electronic export information to be sent to the US government for the container that listed materially false information regarding the identity of the exporter and the intermediary and final recipient, as well as the final destination of the container's contents.”

 The prosecution specifically alleged that on January 17, 2019, the defendants and their co-conspirators "exported, attempted to export or caused to be exported to Nigeria articles in the USML, the export of which was controlled by the Arms Export Control Act, without first having obtained the necessary license or written approval from the US Department of State, specifically: 38 semiautomatic firearms; more than 35,000 rounds of ammunition; and 44 magazines.”

 Weapons exported

  They also reportedly, on the same day, "supposedly exported to Nigeria a Bushnell Trophy optical rifle and an AR Burris rifle."

  The export of items was sent to be controlled by the Commerce Control List without first obtaining the necessary license or written approval from the US Department of Commerce.

 "Finally, the prosecution alleges that the defendants carried 28 firearms with deleted serial numbers, including 18 rifles," the statement added.

  Federal jury returns indictment

  The statement said on Friday that a federal grand jury returned the indictment charging the three Maryland residents with four counts.

  Federal charges passed by the grand jury, according to the statement, include conspiracy, violation of the Arms Export Control Act and Export Reform Control Act, related to the export of firearms and ammunition from the United States to the United States. Nigeria.

  The indictment was announced by acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland, Jonathan F. Lenzner;  Special Agent in Charge, James R. Mancuso, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore;  and special agent in charge, Timothy Jones, of the Baltimore Field Division, Department of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the statement said.

  Punishment

  The statement said that if convicted, the defendants each face a mandatory five-year federal prison sentence for the conspiracy;  a maximum of 20 years in federal prison each for violating the Arms Export Control Act and for violating the Export Control Reform Act;  and a maximum of five years in federal prison for transporting a firearm with an erased serial number.

Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum sentences, he added.

"A federal district court judge will determine any award after taking into account the US Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors."

 Each of the defendants was expected to appear for the first time on Friday in US District Court in Baltimore, before Judge Thomas M. DiGirolamo, beginning at 3:00 pm.

 An indictment is not a declaration of guilt, the prosecutor's office said in the statement.  "An individual charged with the prosecution is found not guilty unless and until proven guilty in some subsequent criminal case."

 Seven defendants in related cases

  Seven defendants have been charged in related proceedings, and of those, six have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.

 The revelation about the alleged illegal importation of weapons and ammunition into the country comes amid the worsening situation of insecurity in the country, fueled by perpetrators believed to be better equipped than the Nigerian police.