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Virginia man arrested, allegedly tried to ship weapons to Lebanon

WASHINGTON, Dec. 25 (UPI) -- A Virginia businessman was arrested for allegedly attempting to ship weapons and high-tech devices to Lebanon, court documents said.

Sam Rafic Ghanem, 43, of Springfield, Va., owner of an international shipping company with offices in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., was arrested Saturday after an FBI sting, ABC News reported.

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Ghanem, and a former employee working as an FBI informant, devised a scheme to send weapons to Lebanon by hiding them inside automobile parts shipped by his company, the documents say.

An FBI agent alleged in the charging documents the two men packed the car parts with 10 handguns, 10 semi-automatic weapons and 18 "optical devices."

After his arrest Ghanem allegedly admitted to FBI agents his intended shipment violated U.S. law, which prohibits the export of such weapons to Lebanon, ABC News said.

Ghanem was charged with one count of attempted export of defense articles, in violation of the Arms Export Control act.

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