Ex-Staff Sergeant Pleads Guilty to Export Control Violations
A former Staff Sergeant in a U.S. Special Forces National Guard unit pleaded guilty Sept. 6 to violating the Arms Export Control Act. According to the Department of Justice, Joseph Debose, 30, of North Carolina, provided multiple shipments of firearms to co-conspirators who then secreted the weapons in packages and transported them to shipping companies to be sent to customers in China. The weapons included numerous semiautomatic handguns, rifles and shotguns, DoJ said. When sentenced, Debose faces up to 20 years in prison.
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Authorities initially learned of the arms smuggling scheme after police in China seized a package containing firearms with defaced serial numbers, which had been shipped from Queens, N.Y. Informed of the seizure of the weapons, U.S. law enforcement officials traveled to China to examine the evidence, DoJ said. The types of weapons seized by the Chinese authorities are controlled on the U.S. Munitions List, and may not be exported without a license from the State Department.
With the aid of forensic techniques, agents determined that one of the weapons seized in China had originally been purchased in North Carolina, said DoJ. Agents then traced that gun, and others, to Debose. Agents arrested Debose in a sting operation when he arrived at a meeting location with a truckload of guns for the next shipment. According to DoJ, Debose was carrying a loaded .45 caliber pistol at the time of his arrest. To date, four individuals have been charged with weapons trafficking and export offenses as a result of this investigation.