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A Nevada man pleaded guilty on Friday to purchasing high-powered firearms and ammunition to sell to drug-trafficking organizations in Mexico, money laundering and employing people illegally in the U.S., Department of Justice officials said.
Luis Alberto Osorio allegedly conspired with co-defendants between April 2020 and last September to buy 140 firearms, magazines, and ammunition for people affiliated with violent Mexican drug-trafficking cartels, which would be sold south of the border for a profit, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Nevada.
The guns included large caliber and long-range firearms such as the Ohio Ordnance Works M2-SLR .50 BMG, the Barrett M82A1 and M107A1 .50 BMG antimaterial rifles, the FN Herstal M249S 5.56x45mm and the FH Herstal SCAR 17S 7.62x51mm rifles, according to court documents.
Osorio also admitted to employing people in the U.S. illegally at a mining company in Nevada.
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According to court documents, Osorio conspired with co-defendants between April 2020 and last September to buy 140 firearms, magazines, and ammunition for people allegedly affiliated with violent Mexican drug-trafficking cartels. (Getty Images, File)
Osorio, of Elko, pleaded guilty to one count of straw purchasing of firearms; one count of trafficking in firearms; one count of harboring certain aliens; and one count of conspiracy to launder money.
He faces a maximum of 70 years in prison if found guilty on all counts.
“Firearms trafficking networks feed the violent cartels that terrorize border communities and pump illicit drugs into our neighborhoods,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Sigal Chattah for the District of Nevada said in a statement. “By cutting off this supply chain and holding this defendant accountable, we are directly disrupting the operational capabilities of these dangerous criminal organizations.”
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Osario’s sentencing is scheduled for February.
“Trafficking military-style firearms and ammunition to drug trafficking organizations in Mexico fuels violence, strengthens criminal networks and threatens communities on both sides of the border,” said Jonathan Sherwin, deputy special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Las Vegas. “This guilty plea is the result of relentless work by HSI and the Homeland Security Task Force and our federal, state and local partners to disrupt the flow of weapons, money and criminal support that allows these organizations to operate.”
A burned truck is seen as members of the Civil Guard of Michoacan patrol a highway after a wave of cartel violence in Aguililla, Mexico. (AFP via Getty Images, File)
The case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force initiative, which was created by an executive order President Donald Trump signed on his first day in office last year.
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“In the world of organized crime and drug trafficking, guns and drugs go hand-in-hand,” David S. Olesky, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration Los Angeles Field Division, which covers Nevada, said in a statement.
“As a member of the Homeland Security Task Force, DEA and our partners will bring to bear all resources and draw on the full scope of our agencies’ expertise to hold accountable those individuals and organizations which pose a public health and safety threat to our communities through the trafficking of drugs and firearms.”