St. Louis, MO – Thirty-five (35) people were indicted in St. Louis on charges of conspiring to traffic in contraband cigarettes, conspiracy to distribute synthetic drugs and money laundering.
Indicted were the following individuals:
Mohammed Almuttan, aka Abu Ali, 35, St. Louis, MO
Rami Almuttan, aka Abu Louay, 33, St. Louis, MO
Hisham Mutan, aka Abu Mohamed, 41, St. Louis, MO
Saddam Mutan, aka Abu Ali, 24, St. Louis, MO
Mazin Abdelsalam, aka Abu Mohammad, 38, St. Louis, MO
Najeh Muhana, aka Abu Yazan, 41, Fairview, NJ
Fares Muhana, aka Abu Yamama, 40, Cliffside Park, NJ
Ayoub Qaiymah, aka Abu Faysal, 23, Richmond, VA
Naser Abid, 23, Chicago, IL
Yadgar Barzanji, aka Abu Siver, 47, St. Louis, MO
Wafaa Alwan, 50, St. Louis, MO
Ahmed Abuali, aka Bazilla, 31, North Bergen, NJ
Mohammed Kayed, aka Mohammed Fayez, 21, Clifton, NJ
Momen Abuali, 20, Little Ferry, NJ
Firat Sevindik, 42, Cliffside Park, NJ
Mohammed Mustafa, 30, North Bergen, NJ
Mohammad Karashqah, Abu Yazid, 47, North Bergen, NJ
Fayez Sheikha, 46, Mishawaka, IN
Jihad Shihadeh, Abu Malik, 58, Chicago Ridge, IL
Ismael Abadi, 57, Carol Stream, IL
Abed Hamed, Abed Fawzan, 39, Greenville, NC
Maher Hamed, Abu Alazara, 33, Swansea, IL
Abdel Adi, 25, Oak Lawn, IL
Muhanad Khatib, Abu Alamin, 36, Chicago, IL
Eyad Awad, 38, Chicago, IL
Dale Garbin, 60, Kankakee, IL
Hayder Al Fatli, 40, St. Louis, MO
Kutlay Guvener, 35, Chicago, IL
Saad Al Mallak, 30, Dittmer, MO
Hassan Abdelatif, 29, Collinsville, IL
Mahajir Naz, 32, St. Louis, MO
Talal Abuajaj, 23, St. Louis, MO
Basem Hamdan, aka Abu Ramiz, 57, St. Louis, MO
Zainal Saleh, 29, St. Louis, MO and
Ibrahim Awad, 39, St. Louis, MO
Defendants were indicted by a federal grand jury on May 24, 2017. Defendants are charged with various counts of conspiring to traffic in contraband cigarettes, conspiring to distribute controlled substances/analogues and money laundering.
According to the indictment, defendants conspired for more than two years to buy contraband cigarettes in St. Louis, Missouri, a low tax market, and transport and distribute them in Chicago, Illinois and New Jersey, high tax markets. Defendants used several convenience stores which they owned or operated to create the appearance of legitimate cigarette purchases. Illegal profits from the contraband cigarette sales were laundered through accounts associated with the convenience stores.
In addition, synthetic drugs, commonly referred to as K-2, was sold on a daily basis from a handful of the convenience stores. Defendants not only purchased finished product from a national distributor but manufactured synthetic drugs themselves, importing precursor chemicals from China.
“The collaboration with our federal and local law enforcement partners is the key to breaking criminal enterprises in this area,” said Special Agent in Charge James M. Gibbons of HSI Chicago. “HSI will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to seek out and dismantle criminal organizations that deal in contraband products and sell synthetic drugs in our communities.”
James P. Shroba, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA St. Louis Division stated, "These indictments and arrests reflect the commitment of the DEA and our federal, state and local law enforcement partners to dismantle these types of unprincipled business operations that are profiting from human frailty. Synthetic drugs that are sold as purportedly legal substitutes for cannabis and stimulants, such as cocaine and methamphetamine, are neither legal nor safe. These substances were never intended for human consumption and only serve to satisfy the avarice of the seller.”
If convicted, defendants are facing maximum penalties of 5 years to 20 years in prison and/or fines up to $1,000,000. In determining the actual sentences, a judge is required to consider the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which provide recommended sentencing ranges.
This case was investigated by the Homeland Security Investigations, Drug Enforcement Administration, Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Illinois State Police, Illinois Department of Revenue and Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau.
As is always the case, charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.
17 comments:
Way to go liberals and democrats. Look at the names of these "people"
Just a fine bunch of men living the American dream and voting democrat no doubt
The new ghetto profiteers.
So apparently all of the perks that they received upon arriving in the US were not enough.
do those sound like American names to you?
the all so friendly peace loving Muslim.
All American Indians, I presume.
Where is Joe Smith or Bob Miller?
When will some American citizens wake up and support our president. President Donald J. Trump is surely supporting us all.
Good God-fearing Christian boys there. Don't let a name fool you into believing something that might not be true. What in the hell am I saying? Of course, they are not Christian's!!
They should all have their right hands removed then deported to their home countries. All assets should be seized and pork BBQ's held in their honor.
746, Smith and Miller were the arresting officers OF COURSE!!!!
Why do I feel like all the Abu's will be out in no time, AGAIN making gobs of $$$ in mere weeks than what Officer's Smith and Miller make in a year? Something WRONG with this picture!
SMH!
Doing the same here in Salisbury - but government enforcement agencies don't care. I know - dealt with them for over 30 years.
Leave them alone... they are clearly "child refugees"
Abu (god), a minor god of vegetation in Sumerian mythology.
Joe -
Please use your investigative experience and truth finding assets to prompt local and state enforcement agencies to expose these criminals in our area. I've tried for years.
I had some dealings with this type of scum when I owned a business in Ocean City. They laugh at how naive the average American is to their practices. Stab you in the back in a New York minute.
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