SAN ANTONIO — Five people were arrested in Laredo, Hebbronville and Falls City Wednesday for allegedly trafficking military grade weapons to a drug cartel in Mexico.
Gerardo Rafael Perez Jr. aka “Jerry,” 23, of Laredo, allegedly planned for more than 100 firearms in Texas to be smuggled across the border and delivered to a drug trafficking cartel in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico, according to court documents. Perez’s organization allegedly used straw purchasers, including co-defendants Francisco Alejandro Benavides aka “Frankie,” 23, and Mark Anthony Trevino Jr., 24, to obtain the weapons from numerous sources in the Western, Southern, and Northern Districts of Texas. These same documents allege that the organization would get the guns from unlicensed dealers of firearms, or from federal firearm licensees, where straw purchasers would make false representations to secure the firearms.
Luis Matias Leal aka “Wicho” aka “Poncho” aka “El Tio,” 30, allegedly provided the cash and plans for the conspiracy, while Antonio Osiel Casarez, 26, would smuggle the weapons into Mexico and then come back to the United States with a lot of cash.
The high-powered weapons allegedly acquired by Perez’s organization included FNH SCAR rifles, Barrett .50 caliber rifles, FNH M294S rifles, and M1919 rifles.
Perez, Casarez, Leal, Benavides, and Trevino were all named in a indictment filed March 6. They were arrested March 20.
The five new defendants are all charged with one count of conspiracy to traffic firearms, which carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison, and one count of conspiracy to straw purchase firearms with a maximum penalty of 25 years imprisonment.
Mendoza was arrested in San Antonio on March 11, 2023. Ibarra and Corona were arrested in September and October 2023.
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