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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Feds Announce Machinegun Busts

LOS ANGELES (CN) - Four men were arrested on charges of selling machineguns to an undercover agent, and one of them claimed to be tied to a Mexican drug cartel, federal prosecutors said in Los Angeles. Investigators said they seized 50 guns, some of them fully automatic, during the 10-month investigation.

Officers with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the LAPD made the arrests Friday.

Edgardo Prado Casteneda, aka "Primo," is charged with selling guns without a license and distributing methamphetamine. Prosecutors said he claimed to be a member of La Familia, a drug cartel.

Also arrested were Vicente "Chevy" Garcia Jr., Steven S. Banks and Victor "Fingers" Velasquez.

Blanks is charged with possession of a machinegun, Garcia with being a felon in possession of a firearm. Velasquez is charged with the distribution of methamphetamine. He allegedly delivered a quarter-pound of meth to an undercover agent.

Prosecutors said Prado was planning to kidnap a man to collect a debt owed to La Familia cartel. If convicted, the men face at least 10 years in prison.

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