A federal jury has convicted United States Army Major Kojo Owusu Dartey, currently stationed at Fort Liberty, on various charges related to firearms dealing, smuggling, and making false statements.
These include engaging in firearm transactions without a license, delivering firearms without notifying the carrier, smuggling goods out of the United States, and illegally exporting firearms without proper authorization.
Owusu Dartey, aged 42, could face up to 240 months in prison when he is sentenced on July 23, 2024. The firearms were hidden within blue barrels containing rice and household items and were smuggled to Ghana.
“We are partnering with law enforcement agencies across the globe to expose international criminals – from money launderers to rogue international arms traffickers capable of fueling violence abroad,” said U.S Attorney Michael Easley.
“Through a partnership with Ghanaian officials, this rogue Army Major was convicted at trial after smuggling guns to Ghana in blue barrels of rice and household goods.
“I want to thank the Ghana Revenue Authority and the International Cooperation Unit Office of the Attorney-General of Ghana for their assistance in the investigation. I also commend the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) attachés to U.S. Embassy Accra and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs of the Department’s Criminal Division for their significant assistance to this prosecution.”
“Far from being a victimless crime, firearms trafficking threatens public safety across our nation and beyond,” said Toni M. Crosby, Special Agent in Charge of the ATF Baltimore Field Division. “The Baltimore Field Division is proud to partner with the Ghana Revenue Authority and ATF’s Charlotte and Louisville Field Divisions for this investigation, which has kept firearms off the streets — preventing them from being used in any number of killings and other crimes — and ended this international firearm trafficking scheme.”
According to court records and trial evidence, Dartey purchased seven firearms in the Fort Liberty area between June 28 and July 2, 2021. Additionally, he enlisted a U.S. Army Staff Sergeant at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, to buy three firearms and forward them to Dartey in North Carolina.
Subsequently, Dartey concealed all firearms, including handguns, an AR15, 50-round magazines, suppressors, and a combat shotgun, inside blue barrels hidden beneath rice and household items. He then illicitly transported these barrels from the Port of Baltimore, Maryland, on a container ship destined for the Port of Tema in Ghana.
The Ghana Revenue Authority discovered the firearms and notified the DEA attaché in Ghana and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Baltimore Field Division. Concurrently, Dartey was a witness in the trial of U.S. v. Agyapong, a case involving a 16-defendant marriage fraud scheme he had alerted authorities to.
In preparation for the trial, Dartey provided false information to federal law enforcement about his romantic relationship with a defense witness. Furthermore, he perjured himself on the stand regarding this relationship during the trial.
Michael Easley, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, made the announcement following Chief U.S. District Judge Richard E. Myers II’s acceptance of the verdict.
The ATF, Army Criminal Investigation Division, and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Office of Export Enforcement conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gabriel J. Diaz prosecuted the case with technical support from David Ryan of the DOJ Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.
