Six Hispanics were arrested for illegal arms sales in the Santa Ana area, southeast of L.A.
Weapons confiscated in Los Angeles. Archive
Photo:
Aurelia Ventura / Impremedia / La Opinion
Six Hispanics were arrested Thursday by California authorities accused of illegally selling arms in the Santa Ana area, a large Hispanic city and located southeast of Los Angeles, prosecutors said.
According to the indictment, which contains 11 charges and became effective today, those involved face “multiple federal crimes,” including conspiracy to sell weapons without a license, as well as the sale of the weapons themselves.
As part of a police investigation that ended in an operation, 68 firearms were seized, of which 30 were “ghosts” (without serial number), which makes monitoring very difficult if it is used to commit a crime, explained the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
In addition, more than 2,000 ammunition of different caliber were intervened, along with an unspecified amount of methamphetamines. Among the seized weapons are several 12-gauge shotguns and others equivalent to AR-type assault rifles.
Between August 21 and September 18, the defendants had in their possession numerous weapons illegally and conspired to sell them. There are also a 40-gauge Glock pistol, a Savage Arms rifle and a 12-gauge Mossberg shotgun.
Pedro Javier Villalobos, 22 years old and resident in Santa Ana, he was identified as one of the main leaders of arms sales.
Villalobos allowed other defendants such as Michael Delgado Rivera (aka "Player"), 38, a resident of Anaheim, and Rosenberg Jiménez (aka "Junior"), 29, a resident of Santa Ana, to sell weapons without having the proper license .
The names of the other defendants were not provided in the Prosecutor's statement.
In September, Villalobos agreed to sell a firearm to a buyer who was actually an undercover agent. The next day, "at Villalobos' house, Jiménez sold a Mossberg shotgun, a Spike tactical rifle and another AR without a serial number for $ 4,800," the indictment notes.
Some of the defendants like Jiménez They face additional charges by owning a weapon and being convicted of a felony.
Also, in his criminal history he includes illegal sexual relations with a minor and aggravated assault on a representative of the order.
The defendants face 10 years in federal prison for sales and five years in federal prison for conspiracy to commit crimes.
A seventh defendant has fled.
