The effectiveness of officers of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has been brought to light after the successful arrest of a United States Army Major, Kojo Owusu Dartey, currently assigned to Fort Liberty, over the smuggling of firearms.

According to the United States Attorney's Office, the Ghana Revenue Authority discovered 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.

Dartey concealed the firearms, including handguns, an AR15, magazines, suppressors, and a combat shotgun, inside blue barrels under rice and household goods. He smuggled these barrels out of the Port of Baltimore, Maryland, on a container ship bound for the Port of Tema in Ghana.

It is reported that between June 28 and July 2, 2021, he purchased seven firearms in the Fort Liberty area and enlisted the help of a U.S. Army Staff Sergeant at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, to purchase three additional firearms and send them to him in North Carolina.

Presently, Kojo Dartey has been convicted on multiple charges, including dealing in firearms without a license and smuggling goods from the United States into Ghana and faces a maximum penalty of 240 months in prison when sentenced on July 23, 2024.

Michael Easley, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, commended the collaborative effort of law enforcement agencies across the globe in exposing international criminals.

He specifically thanked the Ghana Revenue Authority and the International Cooperation Unit Office of the Attorney-General of Ghana for their assistance in the investigation.

“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," he added.

The case was investigated by the ATF, Army Criminal Investigation Division, and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Office of Export Enforcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gabriel J. Diaz prosecuted the case with technical assistance from David Ryan, DOJ Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.