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

[Joe King](/people/joe-king/) was a [U.S. Customs Service](/organizations/us-customs/) agent working out of the strategic unit based in the World Trade Center in Manhattan. He was involved in the [Hashemi sting](/events/hashemi-sting/) operation, which was designed to entrap individuals connected with [Israeli](/places/israel/) intelligence arms sales to [Iran](/places/iran/).[^1]

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

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