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Foreign Terrorists and Gun Shows – Putting America on Alert
- On September 10, 2001, a jury in federal court in Detroit convicted Ali Boumelhem, a known member of the terrorist group Hezbollah (a Lebanese organization that has attacked the US military in Lebanon and Israeli military and civilians in the border area), on seven counts of weapons charges and conspiracy to ship weapons and ammunition to Lebanon.1 Ali Boumelhem was arrested in November 2000, along with his brother Mohamed, after a nine-month investigation by the FBI's joint counter-terrorism unit.2
- The arrest came after the FBI searched an auto parts cargo container on a ship bound for Lebanon. They found shotguns, ammunition, flash suppressors, assault weapons parts, and a police scanner hidden in a car door.3
- Boumelhem was arrested just before leaving on a trip to Lebanon (he had a one-way ticket to Beirut). He is, according to the FBI, a leader in the militant Amal militia.4 The FBI has a videotape apparently showing Ali Boumelhem firing automatic weapons in Lebanon and acknowledging that he is a member of Hezbollah.5
- Many of the guns and parts going to Hezbollah apparently came from gun shows. According to the Middle East Intelligence Bulletin, the shipment intercepted in November was part of a pattern–Boumelhem "traveled frequently to gun shows to buy arms and then hid them in cargo crates bound for Lebanon." Moreover, an FBI informant previously had seen Boumelhem in Beirut unloading shipments of weapons and explosives.6
- According to the Associated Press, "federal agents say they watched Boumelhem, a resident of Detroit and Beirut, travel to gun shows to buy gun parts and ammunition for shipment overseas." 7
- FBI agents followed Boumelhem to at least three Michigan gun shows in October 2000. 8
- Ali Boumelhem was prohibited from buying guns at gun stores because he was a convicted felon (grand theft). The Brady Act prohibits the sale of guns to convicted felons, illegal aliens, and foreign nationals who are in the United States on non-immigrant visas.
- Ali Boumelhem could buy shotguns, assault rifles and other firearms at Michigan gun shows because neither federal nor state law requires background checks for the sale of guns at gun shows (by unlicensed sellers).9
Information Sources |
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| 1 |
Detroit News, Sept. 20, 2001, p. Front 7. |
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| 2 |
Detroit News, May 6, 2001, p. Metro 3
(N.B.: Mohamed Boumelhem was acquitted). |
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| 3 |
Ibid. |
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| 4 |
Middle East Intelligence Bulletin, Vol. 2, No. 11, Dec. 2000. |
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| 5 |
Detroit News, Sept. 20, 2001, p. Front 7. |
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| 6 |
Middle East Intelligence Bulletin, Vol. 2, No. 11, Dec. 2000. |
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| 7 |
Associated Press, Nov. 21, 2000 BC Cycle. |
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| 8 |
Detroit News, May 6, 2001, p. Metro 3. |
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| 9 |
Michigan law does require a permit to purchase pistols, which applies everywhere, including gun shows. Federal law requires background checks for all sales of guns by federally licensed firearms dealers. |
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