A Texas man has admitted in court that he helped send hundreds of high-powered weapons to Mexico’s Cartel del Noreste, according to Border Report.
Prosecutors said Gerardo Rafael Perez Jr. worked with a group of “straw buyers” who purchased rifles and machine guns from gun shops and unlicensed sellers in several Texas cities. The group also bought parts to modify AR-15 rifles. Perez oversaw the purchases, the trafficking, and the illegal exporting of the weapons and parts to the cartel, which the U.S. has labeled a terrorist group. He and four others were arrested in March 2024.
Perez pleaded guilty to charges that included conspiracy to traffic firearms, conspiracy to make straw purchases, conspiracy to smuggle goods out of the United States, and conspiracy to possess firearms for drug trafficking. He could face up to 25 years in prison.
Officials have long tracked the steady movement of U.S. guns into Mexico. In July, Mexico’s Defense Secretariat said it had identified 11 smuggling routes from the U.S. to Mexico. Working with the General Prosecutor’s Office, authorities said most of these routes are controlled by criminal groups. Between November 2024 and May 2025, nearly 6,000 guns were seized.
The report also showed that 43% of the seized weapons came from Texas, 22% from Arizona, and 9% from California. Mexico’s Security Minister Omar García Harfuch added that about 75% of weapons recovered earlier this year were originally from the United States — a number also recognized by U.S. officials.
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked a $10 billion lawsuit filed by Mexico against American gun manufacturers. Mexico accused companies like Smith & Wesson, Beretta, Colt, and Glock of knowingly allowing their weapons to be smuggled into the country and profiting from it. The court’s ruling was unanimous, siding with the gunmakers.
Mexico has only one legal gun store in the entire country, making it heavily dependent on U.S. firearms smuggling for criminal groups.
