Investigative jury accuses six people of participating in a weapons smuggling scheme of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel

(CNN Spanish) — The United States Department of Justice reported that a grand jury indicted six suspects for a plan to smuggle high-caliber weapons and ammunition for the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (also known as CJNG), considered one of the most violent and dangerous in the world.

According to a statement from the Department of Justice, the arrests occurred on January 19 as a result of Operation “Semper Infidelis”, which is part of an initiative that unites various police departments in the United States, investigators and intelligence teams directed at the drug control and organized crime with the objective of combating drug gangs, money laundering, gangs and the most important transnational criminal organizations.

(Credit: United States Attorney Central District of California)

The Department of Justice office in Los Angeles reported on the 23 charges against 6 defendants, five of them detained and one who is a fugitive and is suspected of being in Mexico. The six are accused of conspiring to violate federal laws through the illegal shipment of weapons and ammunition for CJNG operations.

The indictment indicates that a man from the city of Whittier, in Los Angeles County, allegedly ran the arms trafficking organization and, according to the Department of Justice document, used the profits from the sale of narcotics to buy rifles of assault, hundreds of thousands of shells, and numerous machine gun parts and accessories, some smuggled into Mexico primarily since the start of the pandemic in March 2020 and operating for nearly a year.

(Credit: United States Attorney Central District of California)

U.S. Attorney Tracy L. Wilkinson said, according to the same statement, that “this case alleges a scheme to provide military-grade firepower to a major drug trafficking organization that commits heinous acts of violence in Mexico to further its goal of flooding the United States.” with dangerous and deadly narcotics.”

According to the document disclosed by the Department of Justice, during the operation the authorities seized six assault rifles, more than 250,000 ammunition for assault rifles, more than US$300,000 in weapon parts and equipment to assemble various “mini-weapons”, and six-barreled rotary machine guns, capable of firing up to 6,000 rounds per minute.

On January 19, three of the defendants who were presented in court pleaded not guilty. Processing is scheduled for March.

For the charge of conspiracy to violate export regulations a person can face up to 20 years in federal prison and for attempted smuggling the maximum penalty is 10 years.