EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – A federal grand jury has indicted six men in connection with the purchase of pistols, rifles, and 2,000 rounds of ammunition at an El Paso gun show allegedly intended for delivery to the Sinaloa cartel.
The grand jury on Wednesday charged Daniel Feliciano Ayala Murillo – a Mexican national – his two nephews and three other men with counts of trafficking in firearms, straw purchase of guns and making false statements.
The charges stem from undercover work by agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives at a gun show held on Jan. 25 in El Paso.
The agents observed Ayala walking to the gun show accompanied by two individuals and allegedly directing them to purchase a rifle and 2,000 bullets, according to a complaint affidavit filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.
The ATF agents working in tandem with local and state law enforcement officers had seen Ayala give people cash outside the gun show in earlier; the accomplices came out and placed firearms into a vehicle on Jan. 25, the complaint alleges.
Another defendant identified as Elvin Sebastian Ibarez also walked into the gun show and allegedly directed two other men to purchase guns and rifles, court records show.
The agents and officers arrested the Ayala, Ibarez and four others after they drove away from the gun show.
Ayala allegedly told investigators he is a member of the Sinaloa cartel and that the guns and ammo were destined for delivery to Mazatlan, Mexico.
Court records show the guns include two PA-15 multi-caliber firearms, a WASR-10UF (AK-47 style) 7.62-caliber rifle and two Glock 9mm pistols. The 2,000 bullets were of different calibers.
Ayala allegedly told investigators he entered the United States under a temporary stay B1/B2 visa commonly referred to as a border crossing card. He allegedly said he hired his nephews to assist him in purchasing firearms intended for delivery in Mexico, and that his relatives recruited additional “straw” buyers.
Ayala exchanged Mexican pesos for “$6,000 to $7,000” to make the purchases, the complaint alleges.
Ibarez allegedly told investigators he was recruited through social media to buy firearms on someone else’s behalf at the gun show. He said he was paid $100 for each of the guns purchased on behalf of a Mexican national.
Court documents allege Ibarez acknowledged knowing that the guns were to be smuggled to Mexico to supply the Sinaloa cartel.
The U.S. government on Wednesday designated the Sinaloa cartel and several other transnational criminal organizations as global terrorist organizations.
The Sinaloa cartel “is one of the world’s most powerful drug cartels and is one of the largest producers and traffickers of fentanyl and other illicit drugs to the United States,” the State Department said. “Cártel de Sinaloa has used violence to murder, kidnap, and intimidate civilians, government officials, and journalists.”
The two top leaders of the Sinaloa cartel, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera and Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada are in U.S. custody. But their children reportedly are immersed in a bloody struggle for power that has left more than 500 people dead and caused $1 billion worth of damage to property and tourism since last September, according to Mexican sources.
At least one other defendant told investigators he received money to buy guns and ammo that would be sent to the Sinaloa cartel, court documents show.
Trafficking in firearms intended for use in drug trafficking is a federal offense punishable by up to 25 years in prison.
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