Grant Rodgers

grodgers@dmreg.com

Four members of a Cedar Rapids family are in jail, charged with trying to smuggle at least 152 guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition into Lebanon by hiding them in shipping containers containing Bobcat skid loaders and food and clothing meant for a relief effort in the Middle East.

Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Iowa filed criminal complaints Tuesday against Ali Afif Al Herz, 50; his son, Adam Ben Ali Al Herz, 22; his brother, Bassem Afif Herz, 29; and his brother's wife, Sarah Majid Zeaiter, 24 — the result of an investigation into the family's alleged smuggling operation that has been ongoing since at least February, according to the complaints.

U.S. District Judge Linda Reade ordered all four to remain in federal custody pending a detention hearing Friday. The defendants said little in court, and their attorneys declined to comment. They are all U.S. citizens, except Zeaiter, who is a lawful permanent resident, according to the complaint.

An unidentified eastern Iowa gun store owner tipped off agents to the family in February after he became suspicious of large gun sales the family members made at his business, according to court records.

On March 26 and May 8, investigators searched shipping containers sent from Cedar Rapids and bound for Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, uncovering approximately 152 guns and 16,300 rounds of ammunition hidden in Bobcat skid loaders inside the containers.

The containers were shipped by Herz Enterprises from the headquarters of Midamar Corp., a Halal food company at 1105 60th Ave. SW in Cedar Rapids, according to the complaint.

The food company was not implicated in the operation, and Midamar only rented shipping space to Herz Enterprises, said Mike Lahammer, an attorney for Midamar.

"There were no employees at Midamar who had any knowledge of any gun sales or transportation," he said.

Lehammer said Midamar first learned about the investigation into the Herz family Tuesday morning when agents with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives arrived to search Midamar's headquarters for documents related to Herz Enterprises.

Large gun buys

The unidentified gun store owner came forward to authorities about a group of three men and a woman who made suspicious purchases at his store, according to the complaint written by Special Agent Christopher Cantrell. Several months earlier, the group had purchased several guns, as well as the store's entire stock of 5.7 mm ammunition.

The store owner told agents he'd seen the group buy approximately 20 firearms at an eastern Iowa gun show late last year or early in 2015, according to the complaint. On Feb. 19, the three men returned to the store and again bought all the 5.7 mm ammunition available and put in requests to buy firearms accessories and 20 collapsible butt stocks for "AR-style" rifles.

In total, the group bought 19 handguns and rifles and between 2,000 and 3,000 rounds of 5.7 mm ammo from the unidentified store. Additionally, Ali Afif Al Herz bought parts to assemble 15 assault rifles, the complaint said. Agents' reviews of several Iowa gun stores' records found the group purchased at least 113 firearms valued at more than $100,000 over 17 months.

The complaint notes that the family could have purchased additional guns in private sales or from stores whose records weren't reviewed by agents.

Lebanese trips taken

Investigators found that Ali Afif Al Herz, who was born in Lebanon, had returned from an overseas visit Dec. 2, 2014, with $61,400 in cash, according to the complaint.

Additionally, Adam Herz had been questioned while re-entering the United States from Lebanon twice, in May 2012 and 2014.

On March 26, investigators found a shipment of 53 guns and 6,800 rounds of ammunition inside three Bobcat skid loaders inside a shipping container at the port in Norfolk, Va. Many of the guns were hidden inside white plastic bags, similar to those used at Pizza Daddy, a Cedar Rapids restaurant that was searched on Tuesday morning, according to the complaint and the Cedar Rapids Gazette.

At least one of the guns was a Desert Eagle .50 caliber pistol, according to the complaint.

Hidden in clothing boxes

Along with the guns, boxes of clothing and honey were found inside the container in boxes that had "Syria" written on them. Investigators found that on Feb. 24, Midamar organized a clothing drive intended to send supplies to Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

The container had been shipped from Cedar Rapids by truck to Chicago, where it was put on a train bound for Norfolk, according to the complaint.

A May 8 search of another container uncovered 99 firearms and 9,500 rounds, again inside Bobcat skid loaders. Two days earlier, investigators conducting surveillance watched Adam and Ali Herz load at least one skid loader into the same shipping container, the complaint states.

Investigators also found that between Aug. 8, 2014, and Sept. 4, 2014, Herz enterprises shipped one container to Beirut that records indicate contained three Bobcat skid loaders.

Between July 3, 2013, and March 9, 2015, Ali Herz sent and received wire transfers from Lebanon that had a value of more than $160,000, according to the complaints.