“Sol Prendido” for Borderland Beat
Angel Hernandez: Today we are going to talk about The Italian. An Italian who was actually a Mexican national. One of those little cells that the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, much like other cartels, used to bring firearms from the United States to Mexico. This is also an example of how US agencies are tracking these cells to the United States and afterwards sending them to trial.
Seven rifles hidden in the trunk of a vehicle were seized in June of 2021 by the National Guard in Fresnillo, Zacatecas. A Hispanic woman driving a vehicle with her teenage son was preparing to deliver the weapons to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. The leader of the cell that organized these deliveries known as The Italian is currently serving a sentence of 9 years in prison.
Each respective serial number on the guns recovered came into the hands of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. They were tracked and it was discovered that they were bought by Víctor Fierro, Ana Isabel, Barrón and Maira Madrid in New Deming, Mexico. With the time-to-time protocol crime, that is, the period between which gun was purchased and the one that was recovered in Mexico. They established that Mexican cartels purchased everything through intermediaries. A confidential source confirmed everything.
Jesús Barrón aka The Italian resided in Columbus, New Mexico. He collected legally purchased weapons, mostly assault rifles, and then sent them to the four letters cartel in Mexico. In addition to receiving the cost of the weapons, organized crime gave him an extra $100 for each rifle. The ATF tracked down Barrón and his colleagues, finding several more rifle purchases. José Orona, Maira’s boyfriend and a friend of Barrón was the one who transported the weapons in his car, a Chrysler PT Cruiser. The Italian, who came to the United States thanks to a work permit, was located, detained, accused, and sentenced to 9 years in prison for arms trafficking.
Pedro: The topic that seems to have no end, arms trafficking from the United States to Mexico.
Angel Hernandez: That’s right Pedro, this is an example of how the cartels are operating, small cells, hundreds if not thousands of individuals who use these organizations that fuel the power of these cartels. And which also shows us what type of weapons are coming in. It’s not only pistols as we have seen, there are also rifles. And in many cases precision rifles, high caliber, ballistic weapons. That are just as well causing serious problems here in Mexico at the security level. And that allows these cartels to grow and become stronger.
Pedro: Of course. It’s easy for a person to think that a short weapon can be carried in a vehicle. But now to transport these types of weapons it would seem impossible for no one not to notice.
Angel Hernandez: That’s right, we have to see how work is being done on the borders, see how they are working on the dynamics of arms trafficking. We have seen that, for example, the longest rifles are brought across in parts. The important thing here is the collaboration between the agencies of both countries.