A federal jury has found US Army Major Kojo Owusu Dartey, who is presently stationed at Fort Liberty, guilty of several counts of illegal firearm dealing, firearm delivery without notification to the carrier, smuggling of goods out of the country, and illegal firearm exportation.
In addition, he was accused of conspiring, making false declarations in court, and lying to a US government agency. When Owusu Dartey, 42, is sentenced on July 23, 2024, he might receive a maximum term of 240 months.
The guns were smuggled into Ghana and hidden within blue barrels of rice and household supplies.
“U.S. Attorney Michael Easley stated, “We are working with law enforcement agencies around the world to expose international criminals, from money launderers to rogue international arms traffickers capable of fueling violence abroad.”
This rogue Army Major was found guilty at trial of smuggling firearms into Ghana in blue barrels of rice and household goods, thanks to an alliance with Ghanaian officials.
“I would like to express my gratitude to the Ghana Revenue Authority and the Office of the Attorney-General of Ghana’s International Cooperation Unit for their assistance throughout the investigation. I also thank the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) attaché to the U.S. Embassy in Accra, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs of the Department’s Criminal Division for their invaluable support of this investigation.
Gun trafficking, according to Toni M. Crosby, Special Agent in Charge of the ATF Baltimore Field Division, “threatens public safety throughout our nation and beyond.” “The Ghana Revenue Authority, the Charlotte and Louisville Field Divisions of the ATF, and the Baltimore Field Division are proud to have collaborated on this investigation, which has prevented firearms from being used in numerous killings and other crimes and put an end to this international firearm trafficking scheme.”
Between June 28 and July 2, 2021, Dartey bought seven firearms in the Fort Liberty region, according to court documents and evidence shown during the trial. He then assigned a U.S. Army Staff Sergeant stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, to buy three firearms from the same location and ship them to Dartey in North Carolina.
The weapons, which included several handguns, an AR-15, 50-round magazines, suppressors, and a battle shotgun, were then all hidden by Dartey in blue barrels hidden behind household items and rice. The barrels were then smuggled out of the Port of Baltimore, Maryland, aboard a container ship and transported to the Port of Tema in Ghana.
The guns were retrieved by the Ghana Revenue Authority, who also notified the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Baltimore Field Division and the DEA attaché in Ghana about the seizure. Dartey testified concurrently in the U.S. v. Agyapong trial.
A case in which Dartey had alerted authorities to a sixteen-defendant marriage fraud scheme involving foreign individuals from Ghana and troops stationed at Fort Liberty. Dartey lied on the stand and under oath about his sexual contact with a defense witness, as well as to federal law enforcement in the run-up to the trial.
Following Chief U.S. District Judge Richard E. Myers II’s acceptance of the verdict, Michael Easley, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, made an announcement.
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.
