The village of Columbus, N.M.
Media reports upon which this posting was originally based incorrectly stated that the defendants were charged with drug trafficking. Now that the indictment has been released publicly, this article has been corrected and updated.
The village of Columbus mayor and police chief, along with a city trustee and others, were charged today with being part of a firearms trafficking ring that was illegally smuggling guns into Mexico.
U.S. Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales announced the 84-count indictment against Columbus Mayor Eddie Espinoza, Trustee Blas Gutierrez, Police Chief Angelo Vega and eight others this afternoon.
“Gutierrez, Espinoza and Vega were duty sworn to protect and safeguard the people of Columbus, New Mexico,” Gonzales said in a news release. “Instead, they increased the risk of harm that the people of Columbus face every day by allegedly using their official positions to facilitate and safeguard the operations of a smuggling ring that was exporting firearms to Mexico.”
Gutierrez is charged with 37 counts including one count of conspiracy, 17 counts of making false statements in connection with the acquisition of firearms, and 19 counts of firearms smuggling. Espinoza is charged with one count of conspiracy, three counts of firearms smuggling, and three counts of making false statements in connection with the acquisition of firearms. Vega is charged with one count of conspiracy.
Others charged include Ignacio Villalobos of Columbus, Ian Garland of Chaparral, Alberto Rivera of Columbus, Miguel Carrillo of Columbus, Ricardo Gutierrez of Columbus, Vicente Carreon of Columbus, Eva Lucie Gutierrez of Las Cruces, and Manuel Ortega of Palomas, Mexico.
The charges of conspiracy and making false statements each carry a maximum prison sentence of five years. The smuggling charges each carry a maximum sentence of 10 years. Each charge carries a maximum fine of $250,000.
Read the full indictment here.
The U.S. attorney said all defendants except Villalobos were arrested this morning and will be arraigned in Las Cruces on Friday.
Details of the case
The arrests follow a year-long investigation by several federal agencies. The indictment alleges that the defendants participated in a conspiracy to purchase firearms for illegal exportation into Mexico between January 2010 and this month.
The defendants purchased about 200 firearms from a gun shop in Chaparral owned by Garland, the news release states. Some weapons were also purchased from a gun shop in Deming.
The guns they purchased are “firearms favored by the Mexican cartels, including AK-47-type pistols, weapons resembling AK-47 rifles but with shorter barrels and without rear stocks, and American Tactical 9 mm caliber pistols.”
The indictment doesn’t identify which cartel or cartels the guns were to be sold to or what the defendants were to receive or did receive in exchange.
The activities of the three village of Columbus officials are detailed extensively in the indictment. Blas Gutierrez is alleged on more than one occasion to have used an unmarked village of Columbus police vehicle to carry out his illegal activities.
The indictment alleges that Espinoza illegally purchased firearms on more than one occasion. He also rented an apartment in El Paso that the group used as part of its scheme.
Vega is alleged to have purchased “thousands of dollars worth of tactical combat gear,” including body armor, to be sent to Mexico. He used his police credentials to purchase the body armor, the indictment states.
After law enforcement officials seized 10 guns from Blas Gutierrez last month, Vega called a federal agent and “vouched for” Gutierrez in trying to get the guns back.
“In doing so, Angelo Vega lied to the federal agent by stating that everything Blas Gutierrez was doing with firearms was legitimate, when in fact Angelo Vega knew Blas Gutierrez was involved in smuggling firearms to Mexico,” the indictment states.
No weapons were ‘knowingly permitted’ into Mexico
The news release states that, as part of the investigation, “every effort was made to seize firearms from defendants to prevent them from entering into Mexico, and no weapons were knowingly permitted to cross the border.”
Some of the firearms were successfully smuggled across the border, but the indictment states that at least a few were recovered by law enforcement in Mexico.
It’s important for law enforcement to note that no firearms were knowingly permitted to be smuggled into Mexico because, earlier this week, news reports revealed that Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents allowed hundreds of firearms to be smuggled into Mexico to try to track them to cartel leaders. Some of those guns were later used in crimes including murder.
The situation has caused some controversy, with Mexico asking the United States for more information and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder launching an inquiry.
As for the Columbus situation, Gonzales said the indictment reflects “our unwavering resolve to ensure safety along our Southwest border and to expose and prosecute corrupt officials who seek to profit at expense of the citizenry they are sworn to protect.”
William Newell, special agent in charge of the ATF Phoenix Field Division, which includes New Mexico, said the situation “provides further proof that the trafficking of firearms to Mexico continues to be a significant problem.”
But the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Joseph M. Arabit, special agent in charge of the El Paso Division, said the case is an example of “our collective efforts to attack drug trafficking organizations at every level, including their important corruption components and gun suppliers.”
Speaking about the Columbus officials who were arrested, Arabit said the DEA, “along with our law enforcement partners, are committed to rooting out this type of corruption and will not allow the criminal activities of a few to tarnish the honorable work that officers and local elected officials perform every day in this region.”