Band of Texas Smugglers Caught Feeding Guns to Mexican Cartels

The Justice Division apprehended 5 people throughout Texas for his or her involvement in buying firearms illicitly and facilitating their switch to drug cartels in Mexico. This operation, as reported by The Texas Tribune, was introduced by the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace for the Western District of Texas.

On the coronary heart of the operation was Gerardo Rafael Perez Jr. from Laredo, who, in line with a superseding indictment filed this month, orchestrated the acquisition of over 100 firearms with the goal of smuggling them into Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. Alongside Perez, Francisco Alejandro Benavides, Mark Anthony Trevino Jr., Luis Matias Leal, and Antonio Osiel Casarez had been arrested, highlighting a coordinated effort to help legal enterprises throughout the border.

The DOJ mentioned the crackdown underscores the current legislative measures taken to fight such actions, notably by means of the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. The act outlined legal offenses for “straw buying” — the act of shopping for firearms on behalf of people prohibited from proudly owning them or who wishing to keep away from direct affiliation with the acquisition — and for smuggling firearms throughout the U.S.-Mexico border. Each of these actions nevertheless, had been already unlawful previous to the act.

“Previous to these statutes, federal prosecutors charged straw purchases and trafficking actions below the Gun Management Act of 1968, which carried a most sentence of 10 years in jail,” the Tribune article reported. “The brand new legal offenses every carry most sentences of 15 years in jail.” The additional 5 years, nevertheless, will doubtless have minimal influence on whether or not an individual chooses to make straw purchases and supply firearms to folks or organizations akin to a cartel, since most of these additional years might be diminished with an excellent lawyer.

The indictment sheds mild on the sophistication and scale of this operation. It mentions seven co-defendants alongside Perez, concerned within the procurement and smuggling of so-called “military-grade” weaponry, together with high-powered rifles and armaments usually related to cartel violence and energy struggles. These firearms, such because the FNH SCAR rifles and Barrett .50 caliber rifles, are prized by Mexican drug cartels for his or her firepower and standing image, enhancing their capability for violence and territorial management.

Jose Emigdio Q. Mendoza is particularly accused of promoting arms to Perez and his circle with out a license, receiving about $170,000 from December 2022 to March 2023 for weapons sourced from federally licensed sellers. The indictment additionally accuses Mendoza of tampering with firearm transaction data.

Additionally named within the indictment are Gerardo Antonio Ibarra Jr. and Gerardo Corona Jr., who had been concerned in earlier phases of the investigation. They reportedly bought rifles below false pretenses, claiming to be the official patrons when the weapons had been really supposed for Mexico.