FBI charges alleged arms trader, 12 others

It began in 2007 with the sale of stolen cell phones and PlayStation 2 systems to a fencing operation in Detroit, one with alleged links to the extremist organization Hezbollah.

Over two years, the ring bought more than 20,000 stolen phones, hundreds of video consoles, and counterfeit Nike shoes. The group's appetite grew. It began to order laptops and military gear destined for Beirut. It even paid for stolen BMWs to be shipped overseas.

And for nearly two years, an undercover agent in Philadelphia kept selling the ring whatever it wanted, patiently laying the trap.

On Saturday, the FBI said, it lured its big fish, an alleged arms dealer for Hezbollah, to Philadelphia and arrested him during a sting, charging him with trying to buy Stinger missiles and machine guns and export them to Syria or Iran for the use of "the Resistance" in Lebanon.

Federal authorities in Philadelphia unveiled the two-year undercover investigation yesterday, charging five men - three with dual residency in Slovakia and Lebanon, one from Lebanon, and one from Centerville, Ga. - with participating in a ring that shipped stolen goods to the ports of Beirut, Casablanca, Dubai, and Hong Kong.

Only one man was charged with a crime related to terrorism, and the U.S. government alleges that he planned to use the Stinger missiles and machine guns against his enemies in the Middle East, not the United States.

Dani Nemr Tarraf, 39, who has residences in Trnava, Slovakia, and Lebanon, was arrested Saturday in Philadelphia after he allegedly arrived to inspect missiles and the guns he planned to ship to Syria.

A federal magistrate ordered Tarraf held without bond until a hearing Dec. 7. His lawyer, Marc Neff, said he had not yet met his client and declined to comment.

Eight other defendants were charged in Philadelphia in a related indictment alleging that they bought stolen cell phones, counterfeit shoes, laptop computers, and PlayStation 2s, and fenced them around the world. Five of the eight were from Dearborn, Mich.; the three others resided in New York City, Canada, and Hong Kong.

The eight were charged with conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit and stolen goods. No information was immediately available about their nationalities, and it was not clear how many were arrested yesterday.

The investigation was lauded yesterday by a wide range of law enforcement officials involved in the case - from the assistant attorney general for national security to the special-agents-in-charge of the FBI, IRS, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to the superintendent of the New Jersey State Police.

But the praise came in a decidedly low-profile manner, unusual for a case of this nature. The arrests were announced by news release, not at a news conference.

As with other federal officials, U.S. Attorney Michael L. Levy spoke only through a statement. "These cases show the breadth of the criminal activity engaged by those who oppose us," he said.

A 10-page affidavit in the investigation filed by FBI Agent Samuel Smemo Jr., a supervisor on the Joint Terrorism Task Force, summarizes the undercover investigation - at least for the period from January 2007 to Saturday.

The affidavit does not disclose how the undercover agent in Philadelphia met the group of Michigan men who allegedly ran the stolen-goods ring. It simply says that the agent began selling them stolen cell phones and video games in January 2007.

Soon, the FBI said, the agent was selling as many as 1,000 cell phones a month, usually during transactions in Philadelphia and Delaware County.

Within months, the FBI says, the agent was asked to begin supplying military gear.

The agent traveled with Detroit buyers to Slovakia in May 2008, where he met Tarraf. The agent allegedly recorded a meeting in which Tarraf asked him to begin supplying more sophisticated equipment, including night-vision and thermal-imaging devices. In later e-mails, Tarraf allegedly ordered 1,000 military compasses and 500 military radios.

In March of this year, Tarraf asked the undercover agent in Philadelphia if he "could acquire missiles or rockets that were capable of shooting down airplanes or helicopters," according to the FBI affidavit.

During a meeting in Philadelphia in June, Tarraf allegedly asked for missiles that could "take down an F-16," the FBI said. Tarraf also allegedly asked for Colt M4 Carbine machine guns.

A month later in Philadelphia, Tarraf allegedly made a $20,000 down payment for the missiles and 10,000 machine guns, instructing the undercover agent to ship them to the Syrian port of Latakia. The affidavit does not explicitly say how many missiles he allegedly sought, but it does quote Tarraf as telling the agent, "If you could get 100 pieces, they would need it."

Tarraf is charged with conspiracy to acquire missile systems designed to destroy aircraft, conspiracy to transport stolen property, conspiracy to possess machine guns, and conspiracy to commit passport fraud.

Three others were charged with conspiracy to transport stolen property - Tarraf's brother Douri Nemr Tarraf, also of Trnava; Hassan Mohamad Koemeiha of Lebanon; and Hussein Ali Asfour of Centerville, Ga. Asfour was arrested yesterday in Georgia, officials said. Douri Tarraf and Koemeiha have been arrested.

A fifth man, Ali Fadel Yahfoufi, a Lebanese citizen, was charged with Tarraf with conspiracy to commit passport fraud. He has not yet been arrested.