Investigation ongoing of guns, ammunition hidden on yacht

An ongoing criminal investigation into whether the owner of a yacht seized by federal agents while it was aboard a freighter in Eastport was trying to illegally ship guns and ammunition out of the county should be completed within 90 days. The agents had discovered the guns hidden on the yacht, which was being shipped to Lebanon. The U.S. government has been seeking forfeiture of the yacht until it determines whether to bring charges against the yacht's owner.
The case was filed in June in U.S. District Court in Portland, and, according to a complaint filed by U.S. Attorney Thomas Delahanty, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents on October 26, 2010, had inspected the eight yachts aboard the Damgracht while the freighter was in Portland. The freighter was headed to Lebanon, via Turkey. On the 50-foot yacht Sea J they discovered a Bushmaster .223-caliber rifle, .45-calibre and .25-caliber handguns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, which they seized. The owner of the yacht, Joseph Sfeir of Lebanon, was exporting the vessel to that country. Since 2006, the U.S. has denied the export of defense articles including firearms and assault rifles to Lebanon, except for exports authorized by the government of Lebanon or the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.
The freighter then was allowed to continue to Eastport, and on October 29 CBP seized the yacht and tender while they were aboard the freighter, which was loading containers of dairy cows at the port. In addition, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents conducted a further inspection of the Sea J and seized an M-4 rifle and more ammunition. The inspection caused a delay in the departure of the vessel from the port. It is not clear why CBP allowed the freighter to travel from Portland to Eastport before agents seized the yacht.
The yacht was taken to and is still being stored at Moose Island Marine's boatyard in Eastport. The boatyard is being paid by a third party, VSE Corp. of Alexandria, Va., which handles property seized by CBP.
When Sfeir purchased the firearms he said he wanted them on the yacht before it sailed because the yacht is an American-flagged vessel and he wanted to be able to fend off any pirates he might encounter, according to the U.S. attorney's statement. The statement alleges that Sfeir then disassembled the firearms and hid them on the Sea J so they would not be detected. The U.S. attorney notes that Sfeir should have known that the exporting of the firearms was illegal, since in 1976 he had been arrested for carrying firearms on an airline without declaring them to U.S. Customs before leaving the U.S.
Sfeir has placed a claim for the yacht and tender with the court, and the company that owns the Damgracht, based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, has placed a claim totalling $45,575 for services in carrying the yacht, costs of storage and stand-down costs for tugs in Eastport due to the delay in departure caused by the inspection and seizure. Under a proposed settlement agreement, the U.S. government has agreed to pay the company's claims, when and if the forfeiture of the yacht is approved. The company also has put in a claim for the yacht, which has an appraised value of $284,000, and an outboard with a value of $10,000.
On August 30, the court granted an order to stay the proceedings for 90 days, which should provide enough time for the criminal investigation to be completed.