California has a lot of gun control laws on the books, all of which were sold to the people of that state as a means to stop criminals. We all know they don’t work, which is why they keep coming up with more and more laws.
And, as a border state, there’s also the concern of guns being smuggled out of the United States and into the hands of the Mexican cartels. Even if Mexico’s problems are truly of their own making, we don’t really want guns flowing south like that. They need to stay in the United States so Americans can buy them, damn it.
But, despite all of that, it seems that gun trafficking is still alive and well in California, and a family of four just got popped by the feds for their role in smuggling those guns.
Law enforcement today arrested four Sinaloa Cartel-linked defendants – all members of the same family, three of them illegal aliens from Mexico – who are charged in a 29-count federal grand jury indictment alleging they trafficked fentanyl, pound quantities of methamphetamine, and firearms, including so-called “ghost guns” lacking serial numbers.
The following defendants were arrested today and are expected to make their initial appearances and be arraigned this afternoon in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles:
- José Luis Salazar-Cruz, 44, a.k.a. “Oso,” of Lancaster, an illegal alien from Mexico;
- Alfonso Salazar, 46, a.k.a. “Pirate,” of Lancaster, an illegal alien from Mexico;
- José Manuel Salazar, 22, a.k.a. “Lil Oso,” of Lancaster; and
- Jorge Humberto Salazar, 43, a.k.a. “Sharky,” of Hesperia; an illegal alien from Mexico.
José Luis Salazar-Cruz, Alfonso Salazar, and Jorge Humberto Salazar are brothers. José Manuel Salazar is José Luis Salazar-Cruz’s son.
Law enforcement continues to search for co-defendant José Ángel López Paniagua, 23, of Littlerock.
All five defendants are charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, one count of conspiracy to engage in the business of dealing in firearms without a license, and one count of engaging in the business of dealing in firearms without a license.
Salazar-Cruz is charged with seven counts of being an alien in possession of firearms, seven counts of distribution of methamphetamine, four counts of distribution of fentanyl, one count of trafficking in firearms, one count of possession of a destructive device, and one count of possession of an unregistered short-barreled rifle.
The other defendants are charged with various felonies – with Paniagua charged with two counts of possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, two counts of distribution of fentanyl, two counts of distribution of methamphetamine, and one count of possession of an unregistered short-barreled rifle. Among the charges Alfonso Salazar faces is distribution of methamphetamine and being an alien in possession of a firearm.
Now, we don’t know if these “ghost guns” are privately manufactured firearms or simply guns with the serial numbers removed, but either way, unserialized firearms are illegal in California. However could people with connections to a notorious drug cartel, who were involved in the drug trade, and were clearly obtaining firearms illegally, in general, get one of those?
It’s an absolute mystery.
Of course, they’re illegal aliens, so that tracks on much of that, but since California doesn’t seem to care about illegals coming in, I guess we shouldn’t feel too bad about that.
But illegal aliens cannot buy firearms lawfully. California has universal background checks, too, which means they couldn’t even pose as a citizen to convince a law-abiding citizen to sell them a gun in a face-to-face transfer.
I mean, the existence of this indictment is really an indictment of the state’s entire gun control regime. At every level, it completely failed. Of these four, it seems that only one was here legally, and since he wasn’t charged as a felon in possession of a firearm, I’m assuming he’s the only one who could lawfully purchase a gun in any way. Maybe.
Still, the rest of them couldn’t, and the very fact that we have guns and drugs together, once again, shows that no amount of gun control will stop the criminals from getting guns, because all of them can get drugs with relative ease, too. Once you make something illegal, you just open up opportunities for criminals to profit from that change.
California is the most gun-controlled state in the union.
None of those laws stopped these four from allegedly doing all of this.
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