Arms trafficker found guilty of conspiring to supply and use anti-aircraft missiles after pleading guilty to other arms offenses

LOS ANGELES – A federal jury has convicted a black-market arms dealer of conspiring to acquire, transfer and use missiles and missile systems designed to shoot down aircraft.

Rami Najm Asad-Ghanem, 52, who was commonly known as Rami Ghanem, a naturalized United States citizen who was living in Egypt at the time of the offenses, was found guilty of the missile conspiracy charge late Thursday afternoon in U.S. District Court. The jury returned the verdict at the conclusion of a nine-day trial.

The case is the result of an extensive investigation led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), with significant assistance from the Department of Defense’s Criminal Investigative Service and the Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security, Office of Export Enforcement.

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