Posted on 05/12/2015 2:26:59 PM PDT by iowamark
CEDAR RAPIDS — Caches of guns and ammunition bound for Beruit were secreted among boxes of goods collected in a clothing drive for Syria and Lebanon organized by a Cedar Rapids company, federal authorizes said Tuesday.
Authorities said they intercepted two shipments and seized more than 152 firearms and ammunition. It was not disclosed who the weapons were intended for in Lebanon.
Three Cedar Rapids men and a woman were taken into custody and were scheduled to appear in court Tuesday afternoon to face charges of conspiracy and knowingly shipping illegal weapons.
The four, according to a federal affidavit, are Ali Herz, 50; his brother, Bassem Herz, 29; his son, Adam Herz, 22; and Sarah Zeaiter, 24, the spouse of Bassem Herz.
The complaint paints a picture of a conspiracy that came to light last year when an unnamed firearms dealer in Eastern Iowa became suspicious of large purchases and tipped off authorities.
An investigation led authorities to the four people and to raids at the Midamar Corporation, 1105 60th Ave. SW, which bills itself as a leading U.S.-based Halal food brand, and Pizza Daddy, 1539 First Ave. SE.
The Herz family includes principals of Elisser Inc., which operates Pizza Daddy, records show.
Mike Lahammer, an attorney for Midamar, said in an interview that no employee of the company had any knowledge of weapons or ammunition being sent to Lebanon.
Midamar contracts with others like Herz Enterprises, referred to in the federal complaint, who use Midamar’s export services.
“Midamar is not responsible for bill of lading … they don’t check the containers,” Lahammer said. “That’s Herz’s and others responsibility. It’s using Midamar’s shipping resources but the individual companies using the services are responsible for certifying the contents to comply with export laws.”
He said Midamar was responsible only for goods associated with a clothing drive for Syria and Lebanon it had organized.
Law enforcement officials fanned out across the city Tuesday morning to conduct several raids, including at Midamar, Pizza Daddy and a residence on Catskill Street SW.
“Homeland Security Investigations is conducting a joint federal/state/local law enforcement operation in various locations around Cedar Rapids today,” Shawn Neudauer, public information officer for ICE and Homeland Security, said in a statement.
According to documents examined Tuesday by The Gazette, authorities received information about three men and a woman buying large amounts of firearms and accessories and ammunition from Eastern Iowa firearms dealers. The individuals purchased 113 firearms from licensed dealers in the past 17 months, which didn’t include all the records.
The information on the four gun purchasers led to international cargo containers being shipped to Beirut.
On March 24, Homeland Security agents checked records of international outbound cargo shipments and discovered that a freight container being shipped to Beirut showed the exporter was “Herz Enterprises, Adam Herz, on Catskill Street SW in Cedar Rapids.”
Two days later, the container was intercepted in Norfolk, Va., records show. It contained 53 firearms, parts and more than 6,800 rounds of ammunition hidden in skid loaders inside the container. In the same container there were clothing, shoes, honey and household supplies.
Some boxes had “Midamar” branding and had “Syria” written on them, records show.
The firearms had been removed from their packaging and some were in plastic bags similar to “if not the same as” bags used by the Pizza Daddy store.
The shipping arrangements for the container were made by an employee of Midamar, the court records show, but the dock receipt listed the exporter as Elissar Inc, 1536 First Ave. SE in Cedar Rapids.
The telephone number for the exporter belongs to Bassem Herz, the bill of sale was signed by “Bassem” and the printed name was Bassem Herz, records show.
According to online records from Iowa Secretary of State, Elissar was incorporated in 2008 and operates under the name of Pizza Daddy.
According to information from the FBI, the two skids were purchased in St. Louis and were consigned to Sarah Zeaiter and shipped to Cedar Rapids on Feb. 11.
The third skid in the intercepted container was purchased in Illinois but was sold for $8,000 in cash to Elissar Inc., according to the affidavit.
On March 31, Homeland agents discovered the exporter of the container had been changed by the exporter to show the point of contact was Bassem Herz with an address of 1105 60th Ave. SW, which is the Midamar location.
Authorities then found a posting online about Midamar’s “Critical Clothing drive for Syria and Lebanon," according to documents.
Agents said they saw Ali Herz and others loading items onto a U-Haul truck and placing a Bobcat skid steer onto a trailer attached to the truck at Ali Herz’s home in Cedar Rapids.
The truck and trailer containing the Bobcat were then driven to Midamar by Adam Herz, where the third container was already on a trailer that was backed into the loading dock at Midamar, records show.
Homeland Security agents learned from U.S. Customs and Border Protection that the third container was being shipped May 7 by Herz Enterprises with the contact of “Adam Herz.”
On May 8, law enforcement searched a third container and found 99 firearms, over 9,500 rounds of ammunition and various firearms parts and accessories. Ammunition and firearms were also found to be concealed with suitcases and boxes containing clothing, authorities said.
A total of 152 firearms were seized from the two containers. But about 47 weapons believed to have been purchased by the four have not been found in either container.
Des Moines Register: Cedar Rapids Family Accused of Smuggling Guns to Lebanon
Ali Herz///
Must be Irish.
“Moderates” no doubt.
Because the one thing they don’t have enough of in Syria is guns. ;)
It could be perfectly innocent. Who among us has not lost a few AKs in the laundry basket?
Islamic charity... go figure.
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10152553618421666&id=221322111665
“Council on American-Islamic Relations Iowa Chapter (CAIR-IA)
February 24
CRITICAL CLOTHING DRIVE FOR SYRIA AND LEBANON
Midamar is organizing a clothing drive to add as items to an equipment container leaving to Lebanon March 10.
Accepted will be boxes of clean clothing, good shoes, bedding and blankets, etc. for the refugees from Syria and the region stranded in Lebanon. Donations can be delivered to Midamar, 1105 -60th Ave SW, Cedar Rapids any time between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. M–F or by arrangement Saturday or Sunday morning before noon.
Articles should be packed in sturdy cartons with a plastic liner, and a list of articles written on each carton.
Email: baossey@midamar.com
Ph: 319-362-3711 x1110
Cell: 319-533-4111”
Smuggled to Lebanon, and from there...
anywhere, and at a hefty profit, too.
No kidding! Why, just last week I washed a load if 18 .357 Magnum revolvers and sure enough, when I took them out of the dryer there were 2 missing.
I assume that when I find the socks that are always missing I’ll find those 2 revolvers in that very spot.
Most likely Christian extremists trying to push their militant ideology in the middle east! /s
Exactly. Or accidentally, some weapons fell into the lake while fishing, never to be seen again. One poor FReeper kept having that problem.
Paging Eric 'the Red' Holder to the pinko courtesy phone in the lobby...
5.56mm
But I’m just being paranoid when I think that most Muslim “charities” support terrorism.
Midamar is organizing a clothing drive to add as items to an equipment container leaving to Lebanon March 10.
Accepted will be boxes of clean clothing, good shoes, .223 caliber semi-auto rifles and ammunition, bedding, semi-auto hand guns preferably in 9mm and blankets, etc. for the refugees from Syria and the region stranded in Lebanon. Donations can be delivered to Midamar, 1105 -60th Ave SW, Cedar Rapids any time between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. M–F or by arrangement Saturday or Sunday morning before noon.
Articles should be packed in sturdy cartons with a plastic liner, and a list of articles written on each carton.
Email: baossey@midamar.com
Ph: 319-362-3711 x1110
Cell: 319-533-4111”
I’d be more worried if those weapons were being shipped here.
Just think, the Obama regime is importing thousands of Muslims and establishing them all across the United States. Wonder what percentage of those will help facilitate these sorts of activities right under our noses? what’s to stop these same sorts from amassing weapons caches not with the intent to ship them to their brothers in the ME, but to use them right here on U.S. soil against us? They caught just this one group, gotta wonder how many others are out there doing the same, or worse.
Media bias against gun ownership in full view here.
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