Latest news with #YarquimedesRodriguezHilario
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Yahoo
Cleveland men accused of selling weapons to undercover agents posing as Mexican cartel members
TAMPA, Fla. (WJW) — Two Cleveland men are accused of helping to sell weapons to undercover agents posing as Mexican drug cartel members. According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Middle District of Florida, a newly released indictment charges Yarquimedes Rodriguez Hilario, 32, and Adison Lopez-Ramirez, 34, both of Cleveland, with conspiring to traffic firearms and money laundering. Michigan couple held in Mexican prison after challenging credit card charges: daughter Court documents filed during a years-long investigation showed that starting in 2021, undercover agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) posed as Mexican cartel members and were introduced to Yarquimedes Rodriguez Hilario's brother, Yuendry Rodriguez Hilario, 'because he was a trafficker of firearms that could be smuggled to Mexico.' According to the release, undercover communications with Yuendry Rodriguez Hilario and others discussed the purchase of AR-15s and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. A coconspirator said he'd sold weapons to El Salvadorans and had cocaine available for distribution. Additionally, Yuendry Rodriguez Hilario offered fentanyl to one of the agents to make pills. In late 2021, at least 90 rifles and one machine gun with a silencer were sold or arranged to be to undercover agents. Cause of death released for teen son of former Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner: Report In October of that year, Adison Lopez-Ramirez reportedly delivered 10 rifles to undercover ATF agents in St. Petersburg, Florida, in exchange for $16,000, the release said. Federal agents then followed Lopez-Ramirez as he deposited $9,000 from the sale into the bank account of Yarquimedes Rodriguez Hilario. In November of 2022, an undercover agent told Yuendry Rodriguez Hilario that he needed to purchase additional weapons under the guise that his associates in Mexico were 'battling and losing.' In March 2, 2023, Yuendry Rodriguez Hilario was arrested after he delivered 40 firearms to the agents. Saleh Yusuf Saleh, who acquired and assembled the parts to make the firearms, arrived at the meeting with Yuendry Rodriguez Hilario and the agents and was also arrested. Lake County community mourning 10th grader killed in crash Yuendry Rodriguez Hilario was sentenced to 13 years and 4 months in prison in March of 2024. Saleh Yusuf Saleh previously was sentenced to 5 years and 8 months in federal prison. Yarquimedes Rodriguez Hilario and Adison Lopez-Ramirez each face a maximum penalty of 35 years in federal prison in they're convicted. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Yahoo
2 in Cleveland accused of trying to send guns to cartel
TAMPA, Florida (WKBN) – Two men from Cleveland are facing federal charges after investigations say they tried to send firearms to the cartel in Mexico. Yarquimedes Rodriguez Hilario, 32, and Adison Lopez-Ramirez, 34, were indicted Tuesday on charges of money laundering and conspiring to traffic firearms. The charges are in connection with a larger scheme to provide firearms to the Mexican cartel. Undercover ATF agents posing as cartel members met with Rodriguez Hilario under the guise of buying firearms to smuggle into Mexico. Some of the firearms included AR-15s, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, Mac-10-type machine guns, and AM-15 multi-caliber firearms and were delivered by Lopez-Ramirez, investigators said. One of the coconspirators described that he sold AR-15s and AK-47s to El Salvadorans and had cocaine available for distribution. Rodriguez Hilario further offered fentanyl to one of the agents to make pills, investigators said. Rodriguez Hilario's brother, Yuendry, was sentenced in March 2024 to 13 years and 4 months in prison in connection with the case, and in November 2024, another coconspirator, Saleh Yusuf Saleh, was sentenced to 5 years and 8 months in prison. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
USA Today
22-03-2025
- USA Today
Fed sting operation uncovers cartel gun trafficking ring in Cleveland
Fed sting operation uncovers cartel gun trafficking ring in Cleveland Yarquimedes Rodriguez Hilario and Adison Lopez-Ramirez are alleged to have dealt weapons to undercover federal agents posing as cartel members. Show Caption Hide Caption Mexico takes on American gun companies at Supreme Court Supreme Court justices expressed skepticism as Mexico attempted to hold American gun companies responsible for drug cartel violence. A pair of Cleveland men are facing charges for attempting to sell dozens of AR-15-style firearms to drug cartel members in Mexico, federal authorities announced this week. Yarquimedes Rodriguez Hilario, 32, and Adison Lopez-Ramirez, 34, sold and attempted to sell 90 rifles and one machine gun to undercover federal agents posing as cartel members, said prosecutors out of the Middle District of Florida. The case against the would-be arms traffickers comes amid an unprecedented push by Mexican authorities to keep U.S. guns out of the country. President Claudia Sheinbaum early this month stressed that to stop the flow of drugs into the United States, the U.S. must address gun smuggling. A lawsuit brought by Mexico against U.S. gun manufacturers over the avalanche of U.S. guns into the country is currently before the Supreme Court. 'Guns trafficked from the United States are the lifeblood of the cartels,' Jonathan Lowry, an attorney for Mexico in its cases over U.S. guns in the country, told USA TODAY. 'If you want to stop the cartels and you want to stop the trafficking of fentanyl and the violence that's causing migration to the U.S., you need to stop the pipeline of guns trafficked across the border.' Leaked Mexican military intelligence shows smugglers have flooded the country with tens of thousands of U.S. guns. American firearms are ultimately part of the cycle of Latin-American narcotics headed north. Violence in Central America fueled in part by guns has also contributed to the migration crisis at the U.S. border. The Cleveland men are charged with conspiracy to traffic firearms and money laundering, according to court filings. They ran the gun trafficking scheme from 2021 to early 2023, officials said. They are charged in Florida because that is where they sold and attempted to sell firearms to undercover agents, according to a federal indictment. They face up to 35 years in federal prison. Two others were sentenced to federal prison last year for their involvement, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Yuendry Rodriguez Hilario, brother of Yarquimedes Rodriguez Hilario, received over 13 years for his role acquiring and assembling the firearms bought by undercover agents. Saleh Yusuf Saleh received nearly six years on similar charges. Attorneys for the Cleveland men declined to comment. The case is among the latest from the federal government's Panama Express Strike Force which aims to disrupt and dismantle international criminal organizations. The task force consists of several federal law enforcement agencies, including the Coast Guard Investigative Service, Drug Enforcement Administration and FBI. Other recent cases include going after ex-Colombian Navy men for spying on law enforcement for drug traffickers. Federal sting operation Law enforcement arrested the Cleveland men for selling and attempting to sell firearms to undercover agents posing as cartel members, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida. Officials at the federal district declined to comment on the case, citing that it was ongoing. Court filings in the case against Rodriguez Hilario's brother detail how agents pulled off the sting operation. An undercover Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agent established contact with the trafficking group via text message; soon they were sharing pictures of AR-15-style rifles; and eventually the agent met them in Cleveland, the affidavit says. They agreed to do a deal in Florida. Lopez-Ramirez delivered rifles from Ohio to agents in Florida for $16,000. He deposited $9,000 shortly after the sale into Rodriguez Hilario's account at a PNC Bank in St. Petersburg, an affidavit says. When agents told the traffickers that their associates in Mexico were 'battling and losing,' the group responded by arranging the sale of 40 AR-15 style weapons, prosecutors said. The operation unraveled when ATF agents arrested Saleh and Rodriguez Hilario's brother on March 2, 2023 in the parking lot of a Five Guys in Cleveland as they were doing the AR-15-style rifles deal. More: Hacked data reveals which US gun sellers are behind Mexican cartel violence 'Tubo' RPGs and other guns they allegedly dealt The conspiracy of gun traffickers had promised undercover agents a range and quantity of weapons fit to make an arsenal, according to court filings. They told agents they could get them a 'tubo' — rocket propelled grenade launcher; substantial amounts of cocaine; and previously dealt AR-15s and AK-47s to El Salvadorans, an arrest affidavit says. Lopez-Ramirez personally delivered nine .223 caliber rifles and one 9mm rifle, according to court filings. Agents shut down the trafficking operation when they were in the middle of a deal involving 40 AR-15-style rifles, according to authorities. In total, they sold or made deals to sell 90 rifles and one Mac-10-type machine gun with a silencer, prosecutors said. Rodriguez Hilario's brother told investigators he first met Saleh - who sourced the firearms - on Armslist, an online firearms market. How many U.S. guns are in Mexico? The sting operation comes amid a concerted push from the government of Mexico to keep U.S. guns out of the country. Some 90 firearms however is just a drop in the American 'iron river' flooding Mexico. ATF trace data between 2018 and 2022 linked 78,000 guns recovered in Mexico back to U.S. gun shops. Weapons enter Mexico through trafficking networks that purchase weapons from gun stores or at gun shows in the U.S. and then move the weapons, parts and ammunition across the border. Trafficking weapons to cartels is a federal offense punishable by up to 25 years in prison. Mexican troops deployed to the border this year as part of that country's "Operación Frontera Norte" - an attempt to stave off President Donald Trump's 25% tariffs by improving border security - seized 1,192 weapons and 143,734 bullets of different calibers just between Feb. 4 and March 9. U.S. citizens and Mexicans were also arrested trafficking guns then. Among them was Roland Alberto Munoz, a 44-year-old from Dallas, Texas. He was arrested in Mexico on March 4 and handed over to U.S. Marshals to stand trial in Wisconsin for trafficking high-powered rifles purchased in the northern state to cartels in Mexico. Mexico's efforts to thwart trafficking have highlighted the issue but it's not new. U.S. officials have known for decades. A General Accounting Office report in 2009 found that over 90% of the weapons used by criminal groups in Mexico had come from the United States. Civilians can buy guns in Mexico but it's significantly more difficult than in the U.S. and there are just two stores in the entire country. Mexico takes aim at US guns Mexico is trying to stop the flood of American guns into the country by suing gun manufacturers and dealers. The country's case against gun manufacturers aims to hold them responsible for the violence cartels inflict using American guns. The Supreme Court is considering the case. Lowry, an attorney with Global Action on Gun Violence who represents Mexico, said he expects a ruling by June. Mexico's case against gun dealers aims to hold several gun stores in Arizona accountable for selling guns to traffickers. The case is in pre-trial proceedings, Lowry said. Lowry applauded undercover agents for busting gun trafficking rings but described it as ultimately a 'whack-a-mole strategy.' 'While it's important to apprehend and stop individual straw buyers and traffickers, the only way to effectively stop the gushing flow of guns across the border is to stop them at their source— the U.S. gun industry,' Lowry said. 'Simply trying to stop the endless rotating supply of people willing to traffic guns for money is not going to solve the problem.' More: Graphics show the avalanche of guns from US to Mexico Jeff Abbott covers the border for the El Paso Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. Michael Loria is a national reporter on the USA TODAY breaking news desk. Contact him at mloria@ @mchael_mchael or on Signal at (202) 290-4585.
