---
category: Other
summary: Undercover U.S. Customs agent who operated under alias 'Lettner' in a sting
  operation targeting Ari Ben-Menashe over arms sales to Iran.
tags:
- Person
---

[John Lisica](/people/john-lisica/) was an undercover [U.S. Customs Service](/organizations/us-customs/) agent. He operated under the alias "Lettner" and was involved in a sting operation targeting [Ari Ben-Menashe](/people/ari-ben-menashe/) and others connected to [Israeli](/places/israel/) intelligence arms sales to [Iran](/places/iran/).[^1]

[Lisica](/people/john-lisica/) met with [Ben-Menashe](/people/ari-ben-menashe/) at Kennedy Airport as part of this operation, attempting to entice him into agreeing to an illegal sale of C-130 aircraft to [Iran](/places/iran/). The conversations were taped, and these tapes later became a central piece of evidence in [Ben-Menashe's](/people/ari-ben-menashe/) trial.[^1]

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