Recently, federal authorities successfully dismantled a significant gun trafficking operation aimed at supplying Mexican drug cartels with over 100 'military-grade' firearms, as revealed in court documents.
Five individuals were apprehended on March 20 for allegedly engaging in the illicit purchase of weapons across Texas with the intention of smuggling them into Mexico.
The arsenal seized included highly sought-after firearms such as FNH SCAR rifles, Barrett .50 caliber rifles, FNH M294S rifles, and M1919 rifles, all favored by Mexican drug cartels for their firepower and reliability on the battlefield.
The operation, masterminded by Gerardo Rafael Perez Jr., was specifically designed to arm cartels in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico.
According to the federal criminal complaint, four straw purchasers were involved in acquiring weapons from various regions in Texas, including western, southern, and northern districts.
Straw purchasing, which involves buying firearms for individuals prohibited from owning them, became illegal in 2022 following the passage of a bipartisan gun safety bill authored by Texas Sen. John Cornyn.
The guns were allegedly obtained from unlicensed dealers, with Jose Emigdio Mendoza identified as one of the defendants in the case.
Luis Matias Leal, known by several aliases, purportedly financed the operation, while Antonio Osiel Casarez was accused of smuggling the firearms into Mexico and returning to the U.S. with large sums of cash.
The unraveling of the scheme began in late January 2023 when suspicious circumstances surrounding a gun purchase in San Antonio led to the initial arrests of Mendoza, Ibarra, and Corona.
Perez Jr. and Casarez were later apprehended in Laredo, Texas, where a significant cache of weapons and ammunition was discovered by law enforcement.
All suspects, aged 30 or younger, are facing a 14-count federal indictment, with charges including conspiracy to traffic firearms and conspiracy to straw purchase guns, carrying maximum penalties of 15 and 25 years in prison, respectively.
