‘Straw purchasers’ charged with buying over 100 guns smuggled from North Texas to Mexico
A group of suspected straw purchasers in Dallas-Fort Worth is accused of buying more than 100 guns that later were trafficked to Mexico are facing federal charges.
Seven people were charged in a criminal complaint with conspiracy to make false statements to licensed firearm dealers in order to acquire the guns, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas.
Four defendants — Mario Lara, 28, Oralia Carrizales, 41, Geovanny Garcia, 31, and Darryl Fox, 29 — were arrested last week, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release. Gavino Trujillo, 28, and Guadalupe Corona, 29, were arrested Tuesday. Authorities are still looking for the last defendant, whose name was not released.
The investigation was conducted by the ATF’s Dallas Field Division, Homeland Security Investigation’s Dallas Field Office and the Arlington Police Department.
“In June, I met with Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco and five border state U.S. Attorneys to discuss Operation Southbound, the Justice Department’s signature initiative to disrupt the flow of guns across the U.S. / Mexico border. This case represents our district’s commitment to hold accountable anyone involved in smuggling guns into Mexico,” North Texas U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton said in the release. “All too often, guns trafficked across our southern border fall into the hands of cartel bosses and other bad actors who threaten law enforcement and the people they serve.”
If convicted, the seven defendants face up to 10 years in federal prison.
According to court documents, they are accused of buying guns from federally licensed firearms dealers for Jose Carlos Rivas-Chiarez, who took the guns apart, concealed them in plastic and towels, and smuggled them to Mexico, either concealed inside tires or through the mail.
Rivas and his girlfriend were sentenced to a combined 32 years in prison after they pleaded guilty in October to making false statements during the purchase of a firearm, the release says. Rivas also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance.
Court documents state that a search of Rivas’ home turned up more than 150 empty firearm boxes. Records showed that many of the missing guns — including FN SCAR rifles, AR-15 style rifles, Glock pistols and a stolen silencer — had been purchased by the defendants, authorities said.
After law enforcement officers searched his home, Rivas told investigators that, as a Mexican citizen who was in the U.S. unlawfully, “I’m not legal, to be honest, to be buying a gun.” He admitted that he directed multiple people to buy firearms on his behalf, investigators said.
Confronted with text messages in which he discussed prices and delivery of “toys” with at least one of the defendants, Rivas told investigators that “toys” was a code word for guns.
“There is no doubt that the arrest of these seven individuals will lead to a safer Mexico,” ATF Dallas Field Division Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Boshek II said in the release. “Their behavior was adding to the bloodshed and carnage that have plagued our neighbors for so long.”
