BALTIMORE, MD – Two individuals are headed to federal prison after a scheme to funnel firearms, ammunition, and military-grade equipment to separatist fighters in Cameroon was exposed. Tse Ernst Bangarie, 47, of Hyattsville, Maryland, and Edith Ngang, 57, of St. Louis Park, Minnesota, each received 46-month sentences, followed by two years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to conspiracy and violating U.S. export laws.
The operation, spanning from at least November 2017 to July 2019, involved a network of conspirators who illegally exported weapons without the required State Department licenses. Bangarie, operating a freight forwarding company in Landover, Maryland, was instrumental in arranging shipments, including concealing firearms within metal compressors loaded into shipping containers. He also connected individuals with Tamufor St. Michael, who was responsible for modifying the compressors to hide the contraband.
Court documents detail clandestine meetings held in the basement of St. Michael’s residence, where the group reloaded ammunition, assembled weapons, and prepared items for overseas shipment. Edith Ngang actively participated in these reloading sessions, though her in-person involvement was cut short after a video of her handling ammunition surfaced on social media, deemed a significant security risk by the group. Despite being sidelined from physical operations, Ngang continued to coordinate with St. Michael and others to maintain the flow of illegal exports.
In December 2018, the conspirators utilized a shipping container containing a 1989 Toyota truck – provided by Ngang – to smuggle the weapons. The container, loaded with hidden firearms, ammunition, and other military items, departed from the Port of Baltimore on January 17, 2019, bound for Onne, Nigeria. Bangarie falsified export documentation, listing the contents as a Toyota Tundra, the 1989 Toyota truck, and “doors and frames” to mask the true nature of the cargo.
The investigation was a joint effort by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Baltimore Field Division, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore, and the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) – Mid-Atlantic Field Office. U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron for the District of Maryland announced the sentencing of Bangarie on April 18, 2023, and Ngang on April 19, 2023.
While the sentences offer a degree of accountability, questions remain about the full scope of the operation and the ultimate destination of the weapons within Nigeria. Authorities have not disclosed further details about the separatist group the conspirators were allegedly aiding, raising concerns about the potential for escalating violence in the region. The case serves as a stark reminder of the challenges in tracking and disrupting the illicit flow of firearms across international borders.
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