Man pleads guilty in connection with scheme to smuggle $1 million in ammunition to Mexico
By Jose De Leon III
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MCALLEN, Texas (KRGV) — A man faces up to 20 years in prison after admitting to his role in a scheme to smuggle over $1 million worth of ammunition from the Rio Grande Valley into Mexico, according to a news release.
Erving Alberto Sauceda, aka Alberto Lizarraga Barrera, pleaded guilty on Friday to the scheme that indicted 11 other individuals, court records show.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office Southern District of Texas, Sauceda and his co-conspirators purchased over two million rounds of ammunition that were shipped to several different Valley locations.
According to the news release, the ammunition included 1,760,010 rounds of 7.62x39mm, 278,000 rounds of .223, 111,000 rounds of 5.56, 30,000 rounds of .308, 1,000 rounds of 9mm and 504 AK rifle magazines.
The items were set to be smuggled into Mexico, in violation of federal law, the news release added.
“Smuggling millions of rounds of ammunition into Mexico is astounding and historic, even for the Southern District of Texas, a district that is ground zero in the battle against Mexico’s cartels and the illicit supply of firearms and ammunition to cartels,” U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani stated in the news release issued on Friday. “This prosecution holds accountable the individuals and transnational criminal networks financing and smuggling firearms and ammunition into Mexico. Today’s guilty pleas are a result of the close partnership between federal and state law enforcement.”
Sentencing for Sauceda is set for Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. He will remain in federal custody until then, the release added.
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