How
come we never heard not one word about this from our local media or the talking
faces? Jeff

Iranian
caught with large weapons cache crossing border into Washington

Posted on June 9, 2010 by creeping

In
contrast to the one paragraph
of info on the Pakistani crossing into Arizona, a very well-detailed report by Paul Daquilante
at NewsRegister.com.

When
federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents served a search warrant last
Wednesday on a storage unit in Ferndale, Wash., just south of the Canadian
border, they discovered more than $30,000 worth of high-powered weaponry,
including a .50-caliber sniper rifle.

The
find was detailed in an affidavit filed by the Western District Court of
Washington against illegal alien Iranian Hamid Malekpour, also known as Oliver King, about 35 years
old.

Much
of the weaponry was packed into boxes bearing shipping labels addressed to
McMinnville Hunting & Police Supplies Inc., the affidavit states. The
obscure business, located in a shuttered, unsigned office at 1900 N.E. Highway
99W, is owned by Amir Zarandi.

King
initially agreed to let them search his vehicle. That search turned up two
shotguns, two semiautomatic handguns and about 480 rounds of .50-caliber
ammunition, which they believe he picked up in McMinnville.

When
King revoked permission for any further search without a warrant, the agents
obtained a warrant to search a storage unit he was renting at the facility. In
it, they found a .50-caliber sniper rifle, two .308-caliber sniper rifles,
three .300-caliber sniper rifles, eight law enforcement style .223-caliber
rifles, three Glock semi-automatic handguns, 100
.223-caliber magazines, 3,800 rounds of .223-caliber ammunition, various
high-powered scopes and other equipment.

Crabtree
marveled at the find.

“Have
you ever seen a .50-caliber round?” he asked. “That’s a big
round — the stuff you shoot at airplanes and tanks. If a bunch off
.50-caliber rounds started going off in McMinnville …
”

According
to documents found in King’s car, he obtained a gun dealer’s
license in Canada under his given name Hamid Malekpour.

Authorities
aren’t sure yet of the legality of the King name, but say he was born in
Tehran, Iran, in 1975 as Hamid Malekpour.

Much more including multiple passports
and lies to immigration officials. Hat tip Robert
Moon.

See the original story below dated May 28th.....

Arms cache tied to Mac

Public Safety
| Fri, 05/28/2010

By
Paul Daquilante
http://www.newsregister.com/article/44432-arms%20cache%20tied%20mac

(The
News-Register is located at 611 N.E. Third Street in historic downtown
McMinnville, OR.)

When federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents served a
search warrant last Wednesday on a storage unit in Ferndale, Wash., just south
of the Canadian border, they discovered more than $30,000 worth of high-powered
weaponry, including a .50-caliber sniper rifle.

The
find was detailed in an affidavit filed by the Western District Court of
Washington against illegal alien Iranian Hamid Malekpour, also known as Oliver King, about 35 years old.

Much
of the weaponry was packed into boxes bearing shipping labels addressed to
McMinnville Hunting & Police Supplies Inc., the affidavit states. The
obscure business, located in a shuttered, unsigned office at 1900 N.E. Highway
99W, is owned by Amir Zarandi.

McMinnville
does not require business licensing, according to City Attorney Candice Haines,
but the state does. The gun dealership has been registered with the Secretary
of State’s Corporation Division in the past, but missed its scheduled
renewal date of May 11.

A
small sign on the door indicates hours are by appointment only. Its website
dead-ends with “under construction” notices.

Yamhill County Sheriff’s Capt. Ken Summers said he’d never heard of
the business, and knew of no one in the department who had.

He
said the sheriff’s office buys its firearms from Keith’s Sporting
Goods in Gresham. He said he knows of no law enforcement agency that might deal
with Zarandi.

City
and county law enforcement personnel were also in the dark about the federal
activity conducted in connection with the shop — and weren’t
particularly happy about that.

Capt.
Dennis Marks said McMinnville police were not contacted by ICE agents regarding
the surveillance work they were engaged in, or about King.

“After
he had been arrested, I believe, the sheriff faxed a copy of a story to the
chief and asked if we were aware of this,” Marks said.

Chief
Ron Noble replied in the negative, he said.

Sheriff
Jack Crabtree said his office had not been notified either, which he found
disturbing.

“I
have been in contact with Chief Noble,” Crabtree said. “Initial
inquiries have been made to federal agencies involved. Why were
we not informed? I’ve been asked that by a lot of people.”

Crabtree
added, “We have a great relationship with agencies like the FBI and ICE.
Quite frankly, I would have expected to be informed. This is not acceptable to
me. Absolutely, we should have been informed.”

He
doesn’t believe local law enforcement agencies were intentionally
ignored. He feels there was a lack of communcation at
ICE’s end.

The
McMinnville office building is owned by FH Project Inc. of Milwaukie, according
to the Yamhill County Assessor’s office.

The business is registered with the state, with a scheduled renewal date of
July 9. It is actively occupied by other tenants engaging in more open and
better advertised modes of operation.

Agents
started tailing King — the name on the passport he used both for recent
visits to Iran and last week’s border crossing — in Blaine, Wash.
They followed him to the McMinnville gun shop, where he is listed on the lease,
and watched him load several boxes of high-powered firearms and ammunition
there last Wednesday morning.

They
then followed him back north to a storage facility in Ferndale, where they took
him into custody.

King,
who once held a Canadian gun dealer’s license under his given name of Malekpour, was charged with one count each of being an
illegal alien in possession of firearms and ammunition and giving a false
statement to a government agency. Both are felonies.

He
made his initial appearance Thursday in U.S. District Court in Seattle before
Federal Magistrate Mary Alice Theiler. He has a hearing on his custody status
scheduled today.

According
to a detention order, King was taken into custody on the basis of the felony
charges, a belief he is a “serious flight risk” and a need to
ensure the safety of people and communities.

Susan
M. Roe, an assistant U.S. attorney, is prosecuting the case. King is being
represented by Michael Martin of the Seattle law firm of Siderius
Lonergan & Martin.

The
affidavit, submitted by Jennifer Hinckley, ICE Special Agent in Blaine, alleges:

About 10:15 p.m. last Tuesday, King applied for entry to the United States at
the Peace Arch Port of Entry in Blaine.

He
told Customs and Border Protection officers he was entering to pick up his wife
at a Target store at a mall in nearby Bellingham. However, agents have
determined the store actually closed prior to King’s arrival at the
border.

He presented a Canadian passport that had just been issued that morning. When
questioned, he said his old passport had gone through the washing machine.

However,
a subsequent search turned up his original Canadian passport, which showed no
evidence of water damage and wouldn’t expire until 2013. It contained
three visas for travel to Iran, two issued last year and one earlier this year.

According to the passport stamps, King traveled to Iran in the spring of both
years. One of the visas is so current it won’t expire until next month.

Suspicious
about King’s Target and passport stories, ICE agents began tailing him
when he crossed the border. They quickly determined he had lied about going to
the mall, because he drove past without stopping or picking anyone up.

He
continued south on Interstate 5 to Chehalis, where he slept for a few hours.
Then he drove south into Oregon, where he was tailed to the McMinnville gun
shop.

He
was seen entering the office complex, emerging with several cardboard boxes and
loading them into his vehicle. He then headed back north, not stopping until he
reached the storage facility in Ferndale, about 10 miles south of the border.

Confronted
there by agents, King initially agreed to let them search his vehicle. That
search turned up two shotguns, two semiautomatic handguns and about 480 rounds
of .50-caliber ammunition, which they believe he picked up in McMinnville.

When
King revoked permission for any further search without a warrant, the agents
obtained a warrant to search a storage unit he was renting at the facility. In
it, they found a .50-caliber sniper rifle, two .308-caliber sniper rifles,
three .300-caliber sniper rifles, eight law enforcement style .223-caliber
rifles, three Glock semi-automatic handguns, 100
.223-caliber magazines, 3,800 rounds of .223-caliber ammunition, various
high-powered scopes and other equipment.

Crabtree
marveled at the find.

“Have
you ever seen a .50-caliber round?” he asked. “That’s a big
round — the stuff you shoot at airplanes and tanks. If a bunch off
.50-caliber rounds started going off in McMinnville ...
”

According
to documents found in King’s car, he obtained a gun dealer’s
license in Canada under his given name Hamid Malekpour.

The
government revoked it at one point on the grounds he was selling firearms over
the Internet, which is illegal under Canadian law, and keeping incomplete
records. However, his dealer’s license may since have been reinstated and
agents found he had six firearms currently registered under the name Malekpour.

At
last week’s crossing, King listed his employment as a technical executive
with Modeling Intelligence Corp. of Vancouver, B.C. A female associate was
listed as the owner.

During
the subsequent search of his car, agents found a document purporting to verify
his employment with the firm. It was signed by the associate.

In
the course of a previous crossing, King had produced a résumé
listing him as a business consultant holding advanced degrees from the Wharton
School of Business and Technical University of Denmark.

When
questioned by agents about the cache in his car, which included all the
.50-caliber ammunition, he claimed to be a hunter. As evidence, he produced a
computer image of a recently expired North Dakota hunting license.

In
his wallet, agents found a Canadian hunting license, issued the previous day in
the name of Hamid Malekpour.
They also found a valid British Columbia driver’s license in the name of
King, issued in 2008, and a Canadian postal receipt from the previous day in
the name of Malekpour.

Authorities
aren’t sure yet of the legality of the King name, but say he was born in
Tehran, Iran, in 1975 as Hamid Malekpour.

Regardless of the validity of the hunting licenses, the size and type of
firearms and ammunition found in his car and storage unit are not consistent
with recreational hunting, according to the affidavit.

King
would not have been allowed into the U.S. at Blaine had he given accurate and
true information as to his purpose for his visit — to engage in the
interstate possession and transportation of firearms and ammunition, the
affidavit states. Thus he is in the country illegally, it alleges.

According
to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, a federal firearms
license has been issued to someone at the address of the McMinnville gun shop,
presumably Zarandi. However, Crabtree said no one by
that name holds a concealed handgun license in Yamhill County.