Twenty people were indicted last week and stand accused of trafficking over 300 weapons from Arizona to Mexico, police announced Thursday.
According to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, the defendants reportedly purchased firearms from Valley stores and shipped them to Mexican drug trafficking organizations.
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The defendants were charged with 113 counts, which included:
- 95 counts of misconduct involving weapons.
- 16 counts of conspiracy.
- One count of illegal control of an enterprise.
- One count of illegally conducting an enterprise.
Details of alleged firearm trafficking enterprise in Arizona
According to prosecutors, Luis Castaneda, Victor Garcia, and Aaron Villescaz-Chavira conspired with the other defendants, including Michelle Iniguez, Hakeem Sharp, Sedone Rice, Marianne Rice, and Selena Bustillos, to buy guns from licensed gun sellers and ship them to Mexico between May 4, 2024, and February 13, 2025.
The group would supply funding for the guns and pay straw purchasers to purchase them.
According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), a straw purchaser is someone who buys anything, such as a gun, for someone who is not allowed to own the weapon or does not want their identity associated with the purchase.
Prosecutors claimed that the straw purchasers fabricated ATF records to mask the names of the people who were actually purchasing the firearms.
During the operation, the group allegedly purchased 334 weapons from 23 establishments across the Valley.
Many of these guns were discovered in Mexico using the ATF’s eTrace system, prosecutors said.
