---
category: "Law Enforcement & Legal"
tags:
  - Person
summary: "U.S. Customs Service agent involved in the Hashemi sting operation targeting Israeli intelligence arms sales to Iran."
---

[[Joe King]] was a [[U.S. Customs|U.S. Customs Service]] agent working out of the strategic unit based in the [[World Trade Center]] in [[Manhattan]]. He was involved in the [[Hashemi sting]] operation, which was designed to entrap individuals connected with [[Israel|Israeli]] intelligence arms sales to [[Iran]].[^1]

[[Joe King|King]] and his partner, Romeo, contacted [[Cyrus Hashemi]] and contrived an illegal frame-up. [[Cyrus Hashemi|Hashemi]] was to be the bait and the trap, allowing his phone to be tapped and himself to be wired. [[Joe King|King]] was also present at [[Cyrus Hashemi|Hashemi's]] [[London]] apartment shortly before [[Cyrus Hashemi|Hashemi]] was found dead, a death attributed to a sudden case of virulent leukemia, though [[Israel|Israeli]] intelligence suspected foul play.[^1]

### Footnotes
[^1]: Ben-Menashe, Ari. *Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network*. TrineDay, 1992.