Army Major stashed firearms inside rice packed blue barrels, then shipped them to Ghana
Kojo Owusu Dartey, 42, is a United States Army Major stationed at Fort Liberty. Dartey hatched a scheme where he would obtain firearms and related items before shipping them from the United States to Ghana. His plan involved stuffing firearms in blue rice barrels underneath rice and household goods. Unfortunately for Dartey, the Ghana Revenue Authority stopped his plans cold. They recovered the items that he attempted to hide and then they contacted the DEA attaché in Ghana, as well as ATF’s Baltimore Field Division.
From the US Department of Justice:
“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 evidence presented at trial, between June 28 and July 2, 2021, Dartey purchased seven firearms in the Fort Liberty area and tasked a U.S. Army Staff Sergeant at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, to purchase three firearms there and send them to Dartey in North Carolina. Dartey then hid all the firearms, including multiple handguns, an AR15, 50-round magazines, suppressors, and a combat shotgun inside blue barrels underneath rice and household goods and smuggled the barrels out of the Port of Baltimore, Maryland, on a container ship to the Port of Tema in Ghana. The Ghana Revenue Authority recovered the firearms and reported the seizure to the DEA attaché in Ghana and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Baltimore Field Division. At the same time, Dartey was a witness in the trial of U.S. v. Agyapong. A case that involved a 16-defendant marriage fraud scheme between soldiers on Fort Liberty and foreign nationals from Ghana that Dartey had tipped off officials to. In preparation for the trial, Dartey lied to federal law enforcement about his sexual relationship with a defense witness and lied on the stand and under oath about the relationship.
The Department of Justice website provides additional details as well as links to the legal documents.
Category: "Teh Stoopid", Crime, International Affairs, Veterans in the news
The Comm Chief on Hack Stone’s first tour of Okinawa was married to a “local girl” who was probably 15 years his senior. Eventually he rotated, with her, to Camp Lejeune. He ended up dumping her, and on his next tour to Okinawa he attempted to smuggle some firearms hidden inside of a mattress. If you plan on doing something like that, don’t piss off your ex-wife who will eat you out to Customs and Japanese police.
Who will rat you out…
Stupid autocorrect.
Eat you out was kinda funny tho
That cost extra?
I thought it was the Happy Ending
“[Fill in the blank] is our strength.”
Don’t judge him too harshly. It was either smuggle guns or sign up for an Herbalife franchise to supplement his income. He chose wisely.
He could have gone with Amway as well!
Or Watkins.
Should have invested in shamwow instead.
Monavie is an often overlooked opportunity.
Hoping this does not jeopardize that job offer that he received from All Points Logistics.
Most likely moved him to the top of the recruit pile for qualified candidates.
They still have an open req for that position in their Reston Virginia office. Not many people could fill the shoes of Psul. Probably because of all of the pus oozing from the open sores on his feet.
I was reading about this earlier. This further erodes the faith that we lowly enlisted have in senior leaders. Of course, most of us know that even mediocre officers can blunder into O-4 paygrades. Major isn’t necessarily a high rank, but it’s still one that some good officers (especially OCS/Mustangs) never see or max out at. The rank also implies some level of education, critical thinking skills, and so on.
Yet, like the minor “Major” that scammed Gold Star families, we see time and again field grade officers and senior NCOs who do absolutely stupid crap.
If you wear the uniform of your country–native-born or adopted–you represent that uniform with pride and try to avoid staining it with corruption, crimes, or other unethical/illegal nonsense. Hopefully his next promotion is to Private (it seems that E-1s have more common sense than O-4s these days), pending PCS to Fort Leavenworth.
Is it any wonder why enlisted folks call some officers zero?
I’ve been using the term “orificers”.
That works too. I’ve worked for some good officers and have seen some who couldn’t find their way out of an open paper bag with arrows pointing to the opening.
To be fair, I’m sure there’s some officers who have seen the enlisted/NCO’s they have inherited and wondered how some were even able to find their way out from under the covers.
I worked both sides in a fence. I didn’t become disappointed in the field grade ranks until 2008 when I was at CGSC. They showed us the chart for how many field grade officers had been either indicted or already court-martial for corruption in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was literally in the hundreds. I assume it included the fat f*** who sat on the FOB and took kickbacks to send us $50 sandwiches to those of us living outside the wire.
Since that time I’ve always assumed that anytime somebody was touching large amounts of money that they were was stealing it.
I would say that’s an accurate assessment of money handlers. The temptation is far too great.
Did additional duty as a pay agent on a tour in Iraq; handling that much money with no real oversight was one of the most challenging assignments I’ve ever been given. The temptation was very real, especially when the contractor would hand you back a wad of cash because that’s how they honestly believed the contracts were awarded.
I never helped myself to any of it. I could have easily gotten away with it and I suspected several field-grade orificers of doing so… a few got caught, a few….
In hindsight, that was probably the biggest disincentive – the stripes on my collar were like angels on my shoulders, telling me that it was my job as an NCO to be the antithesis of those shitbag Os. I’m both proud of my integrity and (whenever I look at my bank account) extremely angry with myself.
*Correction: Sorry, that was two decades ago and memory gets spotty on the details – my additional duty was as the Project Manager, the Pay Agent was the CPT on my team who was often too lazy/scared to leave the wire – so he would occasionally make me handle the money.
Can we please take a closer look at foreigners that haven’t been Americanized before we accept them into the military or any other job in critical industries? Stories like this are becoming way too commonplace!
The Whiz Wheel®™ spins:
MAJ Kojo Owusu Dartey (FUBAR) 45 x 7 = 315
Further reasoning for the FUBAR multiplier:
He has the AKA nickname of “Killa K”. /s
Okay, that and Full Retard past Rutabaga!
WHY!? Other then $$$, that is.
Even a casual firing between stray synapses would tell you that this was a VERY risky endeavor with minimum upside and maximum downside.
His profit margin would’ve likely been greater and the risk would’ve been reduced if he’d just sold the weapons right there in Fayette-Nam.
Interesting how the lack of associated photo tells you as much as if one had been included.. can’t interfere with the narrative..
Also interesting how they keep mentioning that the rice barrels were BLUE.. would it have been better or worse if they had been white or black or some other color???
What they show in the picture looks like a rain barrel. Rice is usually shipped in “sacks.”
Saying “blue rice barrel” might have more to do with trolling than with trying to correctly call something for what it is. Ghana is one of the areas where rice is grown in Africa. One of the reasons that slaves from that and other areas were brought in was to grow rice in the southern colonies/states.
They show a picture of him at this link, and on others.
Thanks for that, On the one link I hit, there were no pics. Figured it was just typical media.
They finally released the photo of one of the recent cop ambush. Looks alot like the guy pictured above, and just like that, the story has basically disappeared like a fart in the wind.
It’s not like they ever argue for gun control cuz the police get killed.
Isn’t that an oddity? There was this other guy in Huntsville, Al who also got into his standoff with the police after murdering three people today. We will keep it on the down low and not tell anybody. I find that when you don’t share news it never happens.
I swear these guys could be brothers.
https://www.waaytv.com/news/huntsville-man-charged-in-double-murder-of-neighbors-after-hours-long-standoff/article_71eda210-0804-11ef-ad72-473aa3e7b813.html
You tell me man, here’s our guy from North Carolina, now currently abiding in hell.
The link in the above blog article is from the Department of Justice. Some of the other sites have posted his picture.
Shipping rice in a blue barrel is probably one of the things that tipped them off. It would make no sense to ship rice in a rain barrel when they’re normally shipped in sacks, and Ghana is one of places where rice is grown.
Major Knucklehead probably banked on the idea that folks would see rice and dismiss the heavy weight on the rice… And then pass it on as an “this doesn’t make sense but whatever floats their boat” explanation. Instead, it came across as strange and rose red flags. They checked the barrels further to see what he was trying to hide. They probably flagged everything that was shipped in his name, which caught the household goods. If he’s hiding things in barrels, what else is he hiding?
MarineDad61 provided a link and video below showing the possibility that Kojo Owusu Dartey had also rode the phony pony.
A few years back there were a series of news articles about immigrants from the Dominican Republic getting government assistance, using that money to purchase foodstuffs, then shipping it in the blue plastic barrels to relatives back on the island to sell on the black market. Other than the cost of the barrel and the shipping charge, it was all profit. They started liking into it when someone noticed all of the bodegas selling the blue plastic barrels.
NYC sells the blue barrels in the BodeGAZ, folks max out the food stamps and ship them out of country for huge profits…
yup
Barrels from the islands, mon. High quality plastic, all hand crafted, all hand blown.
Does he get to serve his sentence in Ghana?
Ghana? That must be an alternate spelling of USDB. / s
That would be nice if he had to serve time in a Ghanian prison, likely something that would make the USDB look like the Hyatt Regency!
PHONY ALERT.
He’s been claiming to be “Special Forces”,
and that he ENJOYS killin’ people for a living.
Busted here, yesterday.
https://www.adomonline.com/throwback-video-surfaces-of-us-army-major-bragging-about-enjoying-killing-people/
The whole video here on the Tube of You.
Jump to 5:12, introduced as as “Killer K”.
[[[ I KIL FOR A LEAVING,
AMERICAN SOLDIER KILLER KAY CONFESSES
AS HE POINTS GUN AT KOFI ADOMA ]]]
Love the trigger finger placement. Very top drawer.
Plus, the muzzle discipline, since he is pointing it directly at the camera person.
He sounds JUST LIKE someone you would see wearing BDU trousers and a military-themed moto shirt in a large bookstore reading “Soldier of Fortune” with a scowl on his face thinking it makes him look like some badass that Women will swoon over.
Does anyone know why he is wearing a red Fourragere on his left shoulder? I’ve been out for a while but last I recall that was from World War II.
Also looks like he’s a five jump chump like me. While technically not a leg, certainly is a far cry from the special forces.
https://nkonkonsa.com/us-army-major-nabbed-for-smuggling-guns-into-ghana-faces-20-year-jail-term/
According to the pic at the above site, the felonious major is an infantry officer. He is not a Special Forces Officer, as he is wearing crossed rifles and Infantry blue. He also lacks the Special Forces tab on his left breast pocket flap, as well as a Ranger tab. The fourraguere is likely for his assignment to the 82nd Airborne Division. That color is a common part of the dress uniforms of the division; it was awarded for its participation in the Normandy Invasion. So, he is neither Special Forces nor Ranger.
What a clown.
You know someone is a clown when they talk about “killing people for a living.”
This IS a clown show, after all! 🤡
I was at one bar outside Benning ~20 years ago with a legitimate pipe-hitter who, when the cute waitress asked what we all did for a living (as if she didn’t already know), he got all flustered and mumbled, “…bodies…. I stack bodies….”
You don’t necessarily have to be a fake to be a clown. It helps, but it’s hardly a prerequisite.
He now can play the chopsticks tune with a pair of chopsticks while eating rice while in the brig. I used to play the chopsticks tune with a pair of drumsticks on garbage can covers and stoops.
He will pay dearly for his crimes. The judge sentenced him to 240 months in the federal PITA pound. He will have to serve at least 15 years of that 20 year sentence. Plus, he should get the Big Chicken Dinner.
Mmmm, he’s an 0ssifer which means he’ll get Dismissal if I’m correct, the Officer equivalent of a DD.
Could be, the dismissal reduces you to the last rank at which you servef successfully. It’s normally handed out at a Court Martial not a federal trial.
Correct, it has the same effect as a DD. After he gets out of the pound, he may want to go back to Africa. I can envision him working a catfish scam from some internet cafe on elderly ladies “looking for love in all the wrong places.”
😎
He has a long distinguished career ahead of him as an African War Lord.
Well, Joseph Kony is getting up in years…
Hell, he could make himself the President of Liberia one day once he gets out of prison.
Why go that far? Haiti is way closer.
I don’t doubt that it is the legal equivalent of a DD, but what does it actually say on the 214 (honest question)?
Will an employer necessarily see the equivalence? Didn’t Hunter Brandon buy a firearm through legal channels despite being a dismissed orificer?
Mine says “honorable discharge” and I was an RA O-3. So, it likely says “other than honorable.” Hunter’s dismissal was not equivalent to a DD. It would not bar purchase of a firearm.
Ok, thank you for the response. Officer stuff is almost as alien to me (excepting the tactical/technical aspect I had to know to cover up their mistakes) as naval operations.
Could you elaborate, please? Does a dismissal have the same effect as a DD, or as an OTH? Are there varying degrees of quality? I realize Hunter’s was administrative – is that the difference? Must dishonorable dismissals be issued via courts martial?
*Edited for grammar, because autocorrect is digital tyranny.
I thought any discharge other than “Honorable” was a bar.
Some bars can be removed after a time and some cannot.
SMOOTH MOVE, Ex-Lax!!!! So just what does the name Kojo Owusu Dartey score on the ACME® Whiz Wheel™?
FORT BRAGG 4 ever
He is certainly a braggart. I doubt he was ever awarded the Ranger Tab. He doesn’t wear it on his dress blues. Likely he was a pretty low speed, high drag officer, looking for the angles to make money on the side, even when illegal.
I wonder if he wasn’t a DEI Commission? IMO he brags like he’s trying to make up for something.
It likely figured into his promotion to major.
Some straight up Phil Monkress and All-Points Logistics shit here….
I imagine Lori Benton will be unavailable for comment.
He obviously didn’t share his profits with “The Big Guy” in the Ghana Revenue Department.
It doesn’t say if this was a PCS move situation, where customs usually doesn’t bother to look inside because the property is duty free.