A Nevada man has admitted in federal court to buying powerful firearms and ammunition that prosecutors say were intended for resale to drug-trafficking groups in Mexico, as well as to money laundering and unlawfully employing workers in the United States, Justice Department officials announced Friday.
Luis Alberto Osorio worked with co-defendants from April 2020 through last September to acquire 140 firearms, along with magazines and ammunition, for individuals tied to violent Mexican drug cartels, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada. Authorities said the weapons were to be moved south of the border and sold for profit.
Court records describe the weapons as high-caliber and long-range firearms, including Ohio Ordnance Works M2-SLR .50 BMG rifles, Barrett M82A1 and M107A1 .50 BMG antimaterial rifles, FN Herstal M249S 5.56x45mm rifles and FN Herstal SCAR 17S 7.62x51mm rifles.
Osorio also acknowledged that he employed people who were in the U.S. illegally at a Nevada mining business.
Federal court documents say Osorio and others conspired to purchase firearms, magazines and ammunition for people allegedly linked to violent Mexican drug-trafficking cartels. (Getty Images, File)
Osorio, an Elko resident, pleaded guilty to straw purchasing of firearms, trafficking in firearms, harboring certain aliens and conspiracy to launder money.
He could face up to 70 years in prison at sentencing.
“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.”
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.
“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.”
