Two men in Seattle charged with trying to smuggle guns to Turkey

SEATTLE – The Associated Press

Two Seattle-area men face federal charges that they smuggled guns to Turkey, weapons that were ultimately destined for Kurdish Peshmerga forces in Iraq.

A grand jury late on Jan. 31 indicted 51-year-old Paul Brunt, of Bellevue, and 29-year-old Rawnd Khaleel Aldalawi, an Iraq native who lives in Seattle.

Prosecutors say Brunt bought the firearms and the men shipped them hidden in the side panels of vehicles.

The U.S. attorney’s office said the first shipment, in February 2017, involved 30 guns hidden in three cars. The second, last November, included 47 guns hidden in two cars. The latter shipment was discovered by the Turkish authorities, prompting the investigation.

Lawyers for the men declined to comment.

Investigators say the suspects acknowledged their actions in interviews, with Aldalawi saying he wanted to support the Peshmerga military in northern Iraq because the central Iraqi government did not help defend the region from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).