EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – It’s called the M249 SAW – a gas-powered, air-cooled light machine gun capable of firing 200 rounds of 5.56mm belt-fed ammunition at targets 870 yards away. The U.S. military has been using it in combat for decades, and gun stores in Texas sell a civilian semi-automatic version called the FN M249S.
It is one of those guns Hector Delgado Escamilla allegedly tried to buy from a West San Antonio store last Tuesday. The gun retailed for $10,000 and Delgado came up short with the cash.
According to federal court records, Delgado laid down a $5,000 deposit at Adelbridge & Co. and went to get more cash. He returned later in the day with a friend and the rest of the money. He filled out some forms and completed the transaction.
When they walked out, Delgado and a man identified as Antonio Cortez Chavez were approached in the parking lot by agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the federal Office of Export Enforcement. Court records show the agents wanted to know if Delgado bought the gun for himself or another person.
A criminal complaint filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas alleges Delgado admitted to the agents he bought the gun on behalf of an individual named Jorge Escobar Barragan.
The agents allowed Delgado to go to Barragan’s apartment on the premise he would be delivering the gun and proceeded to arrest the three men. According to court records, Cortez and Escobar stated they met each other many years ago in Michoacan, Mexico, and recruited Delgado to make a “straw” purchase of the gun. The men allegedly said the weapon was intended for illegal export to Mexico and were to be paid an unspecified amount of money once it was delivered.
Investigators have not disclosed who the Mexican buyer was.
According to international news reports, a dozen major criminal groups in the state of Michoacan are at war for control of drug production, drug sales, kidnapping, extortion, fuel theft and many other illicit activities. They include La Familia Michoacana, Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Caballeros Templarios (Templar Knights), Los Viagras and cells of the Sinaloa cartel, according to a 2020 report by Lantia Intelligence, a Mexico City-based security analysis firm.
The Mexican government in 2021 and 2022 filed separate suits against major American gun manufacturers and Arizona gun dealers alleging they are aware guns they manufacture or sell end up in the hands of criminals south of the border.
Escobar, Cortez and Delgado have been charged with straw purchasing of firearms under 18 U.S.C. subsection 932. Court dates are pending.
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