A Mexican man has been sentenced to over seven years in prison after he was caught smuggling guns and other weapons from Arizona into Mexico. Jesus Angel Vasquez Balganon, 33, carried out illegal activities between March 2018 and January 2021.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona revealed that Vasquez Balganon exported firearms, ammunition, weapon parts, and accessories. Some of the weapons were recovered in Mexico by authorities.
Vasquez Balganon was arrested in April 2021 when he tried to smuggle high-capacity magazines at the Nogales port of entry.
According to prosecutors, he did not have the required license for exporting firearms, magazines, ammunition, or weapon components. All the items he was trying to export were illegal to transport across the border without permission.
During his arrest, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officers found a hidden shopping bag containing 30 AR-15 rifles and 30-round, 5.56 caliber magazines.
Vasquez Balganon told the officers that he was expecting to get paid $100 for smuggling the weapons into Mexico.
Before his arrest, Vasquez Balganon had already exported or attempted to export 67 firearms, including a machine gun, a Century Arms WASR rifle, and an AK-103-style rifle.
Along with these, he was also involved in smuggling over 20,000 rounds of ammunition, 208 magazines, and links for ammunition.
In addition to these crimes, Vasquez Balganon was charged with money laundering. He admitted to transferring over $20,000 from a U.S. bank to a Mexican bank between February 2019 and March 2021 as part of the illegal operation.
On March 14, Vasquez Balganon pleaded guilty to smuggling goods from the U.S. and international money laundering. After serving his 85-month prison sentence, he will also face three years of supervised release. The court has also ordered him to forfeit $97,229 as part of his sentence.
Note- Every piece of content is rigorously reviewed by our team of experienced writers and editors to ensure its accuracy. Our writers use credible sources and adhere to strict fact-checking protocols to verify all claims and data before publication. If any error is identified we promptly correct it and strive for transparency in all updates.
