WASHINGTON (apro).– In an attempt to reduce complaints and demands from the government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to stop arms trafficking, the State Department announced the indictment of US citizens for attempting to traffic 17 long weapons to Mexico, in mostly AK-47, known as “cuernos de chivo”.
In Raleigh, North Carolina, federal prosecutor Michael Easley announced the formal indictment against Americans Cortney Highsmith, Steven Martinez and three other people whose nationality the State Department does not disclose in the press release, Luis and Roberto Martinez and Gilberto Hernandez.
A few weeks ago, Proceso published that the State Department was assuming responsibilities as spokesperson for the Department of Justice, by announcing cases of judicial proceedings of people for committing crimes related to weapons smuggling to Mexico.
The government of Joe Biden, although with these small gestures, responds to that of López Obrador that they are acting -although on a smaller scale- to stop the massive transfer of weapons to Mexico.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) estimates that annually about 200,000 US weapons illegally enter Mexico’s territory, without any members of the American cartels involved in the transfer of arsenals having been arrested.
Prosecutor Easley announced that the five detainees are formally accused of conspiracy to launder money, firearms trafficking, nominal purchase and false statements to arms dealers.
The 17 semi-automatic rifles that the defendants tried to bring into Mexico on February 19 of this year through the border port of Del Río, Texas, were purchased in North Carolina and apparently had recipients waiting for them in Durango, according to the report.
“Four of the five people are in the custody of the authorities after a federal grand jury handed down their indictment at the end of last month,” said the State Department in its role as spokesperson for the Justice Department.
The indictment alleges that Highsmith and Steven Martinez purchased multiple firearms from federally licensed gun dealers between January 27, 2023 and February 7, 2023; certifying that they were the “real” beneficiary buyers.
The weapons were later transferred to Luis Martínez, who “does not have legal citizenship” in the United States.
The next step was that Luis Martínez conspired with Roberto Martínez, Highsmith and Hernández to transport the weapons to Mexico.
