LOS ANGELES (KNX) — A federal grand jury in Los Angeles indicted six on Monday in connection with an alleged scheme to smuggle weapons and ammunition to one of North America’s deadliest organized crime outfits.
Four of the six were arrested earlier this month as part of an investigation that targeted domestic weapons trafficking running firearms and ammunition to the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación — “one of the largest and most violent drug cartels in Mexico,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The indictment alleged that a Whittier man used money earned from selling illegal drugs to purchase assault rifles, “hundreds of thousands of rounds of assault rifle ammunition,” and machine gun parts, which were smuggled into Mexico from California since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This case alleges a scheme to provide military-grade firepower to a major drug trafficking organization that commits unspeakable acts of violence in Mexico to further its goal of flooding the United States with dangerous and deadly narcotics,” said United States Attorney Tracy L. Wilkison. “We will continue our efforts to dismantle drug cartels by targeting their leadership and well as their soldiers, intercepting their narcotics and ill-gotten financial gains, and prosecuting those who provide the resources that allow the cartels to engage in acts of violence.”
All six suspects were indicted in a conspiracy to violate U.S. export laws, which “restrict the export of items that could make a significant contribution to the military potential of other nations or that could be detrimental to the foreign policy or national security of the United States.”
It further charged five of the suspects with various “attempted smuggling counts.” The alleged ringleader of the organization, Marco Antonio Santillan Valencia, 51, of Whittier, and his son, Marco Santillan Jr., 29, of Nevada, were charged in a money laundering conspiracy as well.
The four other defendants named in the indictment were Anthony Marmolejo Aguilar, 30, of Whittier; Michael Diaz, 33, of Moreno Valley; Luis De Arcos, 51, of Midway City; and Rafael Magallon Castillo, 34, of Oceano.
Castillo has not yet been apprehended and was believed to be a fugitive in Mexico. Neither has Aguilar yet been detained by federal authorities.
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