Cedar Rapids family accused of smuggling guns to Lebanon

[flowers]

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2015/05/12/cedar-rapids-family-linked-lebanese-gun-shipments/27180565/

Four members of a Cedar Rapids family are facing federal firearms charges amid allegations that they illegally tried to ship at least 152 guns into Lebanon.

Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Iowa filed criminal complaints Tuesday against Ali Afif Al Herz, 50, and the three others while authorities conducted searches in at least two locations in Cedar Rapids. An investigation into the family's alleged smuggling operation has been ongoing since at least February, according to the complaints.

On March 26 and May 8, investigators searched shipping containers sent from Cedar Rapids and bound for Beirut, the capital city of Lebanon. The searches found approximately 152 guns and 16,300 rounds of ammunition hidden in Bobcat skid loaders inside the containers.

The containers were shipped by Herz Enterprises from the headquarters of Midamar Corp., a Halal food company at 1105 60th Ave. SW in Cedar Rapids, according to the complaint.

The food company was not implicated in the operation, however, since Midamar only rented shipping space to Herz Enterprises, said Mike Lahammer, an attorney for Midamar.

"There were no employees at Midamar who had any knowledge of any gun sales or transportation," he said.