Immigrant sentenced for trafficking ‘weapons of war’ headed into Mexico

6/9/2014

A McAllen gun smuggler will spend more than eight years in prison for trafficking AK-47s from Houston, which were destined for Mexico.

Angel Aquino-Pineda was sentenced to 100 months in prison after 35 rifles and thousands of dollars were found in a concealed compartment in a truck he was driving.

Kingsville Specialized Crimes and Narcotics Task Force stopped Aquino-Pineda for a traffic violation, according to a criminal complaint.

He was sentenced on Thursday, June 5, 2014 for the crime that took place back in October of 2013.

Authorities pulled over the now 26-year-old near Rivera, Texas and asked him for consent to search his vehicle.

That’s when Aquino-Pineda did not consent to a search, but a K-9 free air sniff was conducted on the truck he was driving, documents said.

The K-9 gave a strong alert to authorities, which prompted them to search the truck where they found 35 AK-47 type rifles,
33 ammunition magazines and about $26,000.

Special Agents from the Bureau of  Alcohol, Tabaco, Firearms and Explosives were called to the scene.

When under arrest, Aquino-Pineda allegedly told authorities he was driving the truck from Houston and would then drop it off in McAllen.

The plan was to make a phone call to have the truck picked up and taken into Mexico, according to the criminal complaint.

The now 27-year-old plead guilty before U.S. District Judge Hayden Head in Corpus Christi.

The judge “observed that the firearms in Aquino-Pineda’s possession were “weapons of war””, according to a US Attorney’s Office press release.

Six Houstonians accused of being “straw purchasers” were also arrested for their part in the crime.

Aquino-Pineda faced up to 10 years in prison for the crime.

 

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