An owner of a border city pawnshop in Texas was arrested after selling ammunition illegally.
In the report released by Breitbart, the suspect pleaded guilty to selling thousands of ammunition rounds to individuals in the country illegally, including a cartel purchaser.
The suspect was identified as 67-year-old Daniel Gallegos who is an owner of Danny’s Pawn and Sporting Goods and also a part owner of Point Blank.
According to the report, Gallegos went before U.S. District Judge Ricardo Hinojosa in McAllen on Thursday afternoon and pleaded guilty to one count of providing ammunition to a prohibited person.
The decision also put the local businessman to face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison after Hinojosa will sentence him on October 18.
The owner of a Texas border city pawnshop pleaded guilty to selling thousands of ammunition rounds to individuals in the country illegally. https://t.co/dZnzsro5RI
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) August 2, 2022
In the report released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Gallegos has “admitted to selling approximately 280 rounds of .50 BMG caliber ammunition plus more than 5,000 rounds of various sizes, ranging from .223 caliber to .50 caliber to an individual that was in the country illegally,” Breitbart news revealed.
The authorities have also discovered that Gallegos had four separate sales in 2021.
According to the prosecutors, the businessman knew the person placing the ammunition orders was in the country illegally. However, during the time his sales took place, the country was facing a shortage for ammunition as the prices soared due to pandemic shutdowns.
Moreover, Breitbart also revealed in the report that
“Mexico’s Gulf Cartel routinely sends teams to make large-scale purchases of ammunition to be smuggled south.”
However, although the court documents about Gallegos’ case do not identify any criminal organizations behind the purchase, the Gulf Cartel is “the dominant organization south of McAllen.”
For instance, there was a case in 2018 where a Mexican national who had a legal permanent residency, went to a gun store in McAllen to purchase 5,000 rounds. At the time of the transaction, the authorities were able to stop the man and seize the ammunition.
In November 2019, the Department of Justice launched the “Operation Guardian” which targets firearms and illegal export of firearms.
On April 8, 2021, US President Joe Biden also issued executive orders that specifically targeted crimes involving guns.
