Gibson Headquarters Raided Again By Feds

Offices in Nashville and Memphis shut down   25-Aug-11

According to Tennessee newspaper, The Tennessean, Gibson have once again been raided by federal agents. The targets of the raids were their offices in Memphis and Nashville.

Officers from the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and US Customs and Border Protection shut the offices down for the second time in two years.

Gibson is currently the subject of an ongoing investigation concerning the possible illegal imports of endangered ebony woods.

However, the officers at the scene had very little to say on why they had raided Gibson for a second time. Special agent Nicholas Chevez commented:

“The operation stems from a Texas case. We can’t get into specifics right now because this is an ongoing investigation.

“No arrests have been made.”

Officials at Gibson have (at the time of writing) declined to make any comment on the matter, but federal agents have been seen removing unidentified items from the factories.

Gibson is contesting the claims against them, stemming from the 2009 raid, and chief executive Henry Juszkiewic has famously backed movements to save endangered forest wood, commenting that:

“The true wood guitar is going to disappear very quickly. It just won’t be around in ten years.”

(Image courtesy of Creative Commons, author - Grey Cat).

Rich Beech
@sonicamped