Search warrant details how guns were trafficked through Arizona to Mexico

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — A discovery of firearms and magazines by U.S. Border Patrol agents at an Arizona port of entry ended up connecting the dots to what investigators believe was a cross-country gun trafficking operation.

According to a search warrant, Jorge Casahonda Padilla, a Mexican citizen, was attempting to enter Mexico in August 2023 through the Mariposa Port of Entry in Nogales when he was stopped and firearms were discovered in the spare tire area of the trunk.

Some of the guns had the serial numbers “obliterated.” But some firearms were able to have serial numbers recovered.

According to a search warrant, the guns were traced back to Daniel Nastari, of Fort Pierce, Florida, who had bought the firearms in Florida just two weeks before the discovery in Nogales.

Agents with Homeland Security Investigations and the ATF were able to connect Padilla, Nastari and Carlos Juarez to the trafficking of guns from Florida to Mexico.

According to an indictment of the three men in March, investigators tracked Juarez driving a Cadillac Escalade with Florida license plates traveling west near Tyler, Texas, Albuquerque, and Phoenix.

The vehicle was spotted three days later returning to the United States through the Nogales Port of Entry. Investigators noted the vehicle traveled back to Florida going through the same cities.

Investigators believe the men are responsible for trafficking more than a hundred rifles between July and October 2023.

“Weapons of Choice”

The discovery in Nogales is just one example of what the ATF says is trafficking what they call “weapons of choice.”

The ATF says the Mexican trafficking organizations use straw purchasers in the United States to illegally purchase guns and ammo and pass them off to people to smuggle the weapons across state and international borders.

Peter Forcelli is a retired deputy assistant director of the ATF who recently published a book about gun smuggling called “The Deadly Path.”

“The reality is that firearms trafficking to Mexico is no longer just a border state thing,” Forcelli said.

But Arizona remains a major thoroughfare for trafficked guns, ranking in the top three states where guns were sold and later used in crimes in Mexico. Forcelli says this latest case is an example of how widespread the cartel influence is in the U.S. But it also may indicate that federal prosecutors are serious about cracking down on this pipeline.

“If this sort of continued success happens, on stopping the flow of firearms - or at least slowing it significantly going into Mexico,” Forcelli said.

The Mexican Government is also taking action to stop the trend of U.S.-bought guns ending up in their country. In 2022, Mexico sued five Arizona gun dealers in federal court, accusing those dealers of participating in trafficking assault rifles and ammo to drug gangs in Mexico.

In March, that lawsuit got the green light to proceed to trial.

Mexico’s then-Foreign Affairs Secretary said about 60% of the weapons seized in Mexico in recent years were believed to have been sold in 10 U.S. counties, mostly along the border. Mexico has very strict restrictions on weapon possession, but drug cartel violence has cost hundreds of thousands of lives in the country in recent years.

The Mexican government estimates 70% of the weapons trafficked into Mexico come from the U.S., according to the Foreign Affairs Ministry. It said that in 2019 alone, at least 17,000 homicides in Mexico were linked to trafficked weapons.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.

Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.

Do you have a story you want us to investigate? Tell us about it by contacting us.

Copyright 2024 KTVK/KPHO. All rights reserved.