25-03-2025
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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