PHOENIX (AZ Family) — A discovery of firearms and magazines by U.S. Border Patrol agents at an Arizona port of entry ended up connecting the dots to what investigators believe was a cross-country arms trafficking operation.
According to a search warrant, Jorge Casahonda Padilla, a Mexican national, was attempting to enter Mexico in August 2023 through the Mariposa Port of Entry in Nogales when he was detained and firearms were discovered in the spare tire area of the trunk.
Some of the weapons had their serial numbers “defaced.” But the serial numbers of some firearms could be recovered.
According to a search warrant, the weapons were traced to Daniel Nastari, of Fort Pierce, Florida, who had purchased the firearms in Florida just two weeks before the discovery in Nogales.
Homeland Security Investigations agents and the ATF were able to connect Padilla, Nastari and Carlos Juárez to arms trafficking from Florida to Mexico.
According to an indictment against the three men in March, investigators tracked Juarez driving a Cadillac Escalade with Florida plates traveling west near Tyler, Texas, Albuquerque and Phoenix.
The vehicle was seen three days later returning to the United States through the Nogales Port of Entry. Investigators noted that the vehicle traveled back to Florida passing through the same cities.
Investigators believe the men are responsible for trafficking more than one hundred rifles between July and October 2023.
“Preferred weapons”
The discovery in Nogales is just one example of what the ATF says is trafficking in what they call “weapons of choice.”
The ATF says Mexican trafficking organizations use straw buyers in the United States to illegally purchase weapons and ammunition and pass them on to individuals to smuggle the weapons across state and international borders.
Peter Forcelli is a retired ATF deputy director who recently published a book about gun smuggling called “The Deadly Path.”
“The reality is that firearms trafficking to Mexico is no longer just a border state issue,” Forcelli said.
But Arizona remains a major avenue for gun trafficking, ranking among the top three states where guns were sold and then used to commit crimes in Mexico. Forcelli says this latest case is an example of how widespread cartel influence is in the United States, but it may also indicate that federal prosecutors are serious about cracking down on this pipeline.
“If this type of continued success is achieved, it will stop the flow of firearms, or at least significantly slow it down into Mexico,” Forcelli said.
The Mexican government is also taking steps to stop the trend of guns purchased in the United States ending up in its country. In 2022, Mexico sued five Arizona gun traffickers in federal court, accusing them of participating in trafficking assault rifles and ammunition to drug gangs in Mexico.
In March, that lawsuit got the green light to proceed to trial.
Mexico’s then-Secretary of Foreign Affairs said that about 60% of the weapons seized in Mexico in recent years were believed to have been sold in 10 U.S. counties, mainly along the border. Mexico has very strict restrictions on gun ownership, but drug cartel violence has cost hundreds of thousands of lives in the country in recent years.
The Mexican government estimates that 70% of the weapons trafficked to Mexico come from the United States, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He said that in 2019 alone, at least 17,000 homicides in Mexico were related to gun trafficking.
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