EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – A Deming, New Mexico, teenager is facing federal charges after allegedly selling cocaine and a modified firearm capable of automatic fire to an undercover officer and later fleeing from a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint at high speed.
On Feb. 11, Gerald Anthony Lopez, 19, allegedly offered to sell an undetermined amount of cocaine to the officer and displayed a firearm with an extended magazine and a machine gun conversion device (MCD).
Lopez offered to sell the firearm for $1,300 with the MCD switch or $1,000 without; he also offered to supply additional firearms, conversion devices and narcotics, according to court documents filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico.
The sale was completed on Feb. 20 and included cocaine and the illegally converted machine gun, the federal agency alleged.
As the investigation involving the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the New Mexico State Police continued, Lopez had a second run in with the law on May 6.
According to court records, just after midnight, Lopez and two passengers drove up to the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint on Interstate 10 west of Las Cruces, New Mexico, in a black Dodge Charger.
The three men identified themselves as U.S. citizens, but a Border Patrol agent noticed a smell of marijuana in the car and sent the Charger to a secondary inspection area so a drug-sniffing dog could inspect the vehicle.
Court records show the Charger accelerated away from the checkpoint. Border Patrol agents spotted the vehicle about 20 minutes later along New Mexico Highway 549.
Lopez was arrested on charges of high-speed flight from a federal immigration checkpoint. He had his initial hearing on May 7 in U.S. Chief Magistrate Judge Gregory B. Wormuth in Las Cruces.
On Monday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Lopez also is charged with drug offenses and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime for the Feb. 20 sale.
The immigration charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Lopez faces up to 25 years in prison for combined drug and gun charges.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said federal agencies are particularly worried about the threat to public safety posed by machine gun conversion devices. Between 2018 and 2023, the ATF seized thousands of MCDs increasingly used by street gangs with a propensity for violence.
Machine guns mean more safety risks for law enforcement officers facing weapons capable of firing hundreds of bullets per minute in the hands of someone capable of quickly loading new magazines. These firearms also have the potential for injuring large numbers of people if fired in public, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
If you have information about illegal machine guns or conversion devices for sale, federal officials urge you to call the ATF at 1-888-ATF-Tips (1-888-283-8477).
