20 Arrested in Federal Gun Smuggling Case

In a case aimed at stopping the flow of United States weapons to the Mexican drug war, federal authorities indicted 20 men on charges of buying an estimated 700 weapons in Arizona and conspiring to transfer them to the U.S., mainly to the Sinaloa drug cartel. The arrests were carried out by at least 100 federal agents. This is the latest crackdown targeting an international trafficking network that has seen as many as 60,000 weapons seized in Mexico and traced to sources in the United States.

Authorities at the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms said the case demonstrates the need to include long-barreled weapons in the requirement for gun sellers to report multiple weapon sales. This proposal has been opposed by the National Rifle Association as an inappropriate reach of federal authority. Gun advocates believe many of the weapons possessed by Mexican drug traffickers were acquired from weapons stocks officially supplied by the U.S. government to Mexico. This case involves the relatively common use of straw purchasers, who are legal residents of the state who buy the weapons from licensed gun dealers and certify that they are for their own use. But they eventually sell the guns to the Mexican drug cartels. None of those charged in this federal indictment are licensed gun dealers. But the indictments identify a number of Arizona dealers that legally supplied large quantities of weapons to individual buyers.

One of the defendants, Uriel Patino, purchased 26 AK-47 rifles from Lone Wolf Trading Company in Glendale, Ariz., on March 26; 10 more on June 2 from the same outlet; 16 on July 8; and 12 on August 5, in addition to purchasing a number of other weapons. In all these cases, he signed a federal form certifying that he was not buying the weapons for someone else. But on August 8, federal agents found all 12 of the AK-47s purchased on August 5 concealed in a stove and a television in an apparent attempt to smuggle them into Mexico through the border crossing at Lukeville, Arizona.

The federal firearms bureau announced that it was proposing to require an estimated 8,500 gun dealers along the southwestern United States border to provide notice of multiple rifle sales, but gun advocates have opposed this and said it is just an attempt to blame lawful gun dealers for border enforcement problems and the violence in Mexico.

If you have been charged with a federal weapons violation, it is critical that you contact the  Law Offices of Marks and Brooklier immediately. Federal criminal defense lawyers  Donald Marks and  Anthony Brooklier have been successfully representing clients on gun smuggling and other related illegal gun violations for decades. Our aggressive and experienced team of  Los Angeles federal weapons charges attorneys will focus on how best to defend you against the charges brought against you. Following our complete free confidential interview, we will be able to determine the correct strategy to pursue in defending your case.Our federal criminal attorneys have been serving clients in California and Los Angeles County since 1976.