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A multi-agency effort composed of local, state and federal authorities ended in the conviction of a Mexican man who admitted to his role in a smuggling ring that aimed to bring more than 2 million rounds of ammunition from the U.S. to Mexico.
Erving Alberto Sauceda, also known as Alberto Lizarraga Barrera, 34, admitted to conspiring with others to smuggle around $1,057,464 worth of ammunition and magazines from around August 2021 to April 2024, when he was arrested.
Sauceda pleaded guilty to conspiracy to launder money tied to the ammunition purchase, and now faces up to 20 years in federal prison and as much as a $500,000 fine.
He aimed to bring the ammunition and magazines into the U.S. from Mexico. He also placed large-scale ammunition orders “through various internet retailers.”
“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 U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Southern District of Texas said in a news release Friday.
The ammunition and magazines were shipped to “various locations in the Rio Grande Valley” and were intended to be smuggled into Mexico.
The USAO said that Sauceda was aware that these items were specifically purchased for smuggling into Mexico.
“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 said in the release.
“This prosecution holds accountable the individuals and transnational criminal networks financing and smuggling firearms and ammunition into Mexico,” he added. “Today’s guilty pleas are a result of the close partnership between federal and state law enforcement.”
U.S. District Judge Randy Crane will be sentencing Sauceda on Sept. 12. Until then, Sauceda remains in custody.
Investigating agencies included the Mission, La Joya and Palmview police departments in partnership with the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office and constable’s office as well as the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Homeland Security Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Marshals were also involved in the investigation as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces.
