Thread: ICE agents confiscate 34,500 rounds from Downtown pawn shop

Update: Feds Execute Weapon Smuggling Warrants At Downtown Shop

Five Arrested Near The U.S./Mexico Border

Posted: 10:35 am MDT August 3, 2011
Updated: 9:28 pm MDT August 3, 2011

EL PASO, Texas -- Federal agents executed arrest warrants at a downtown business Wednesday morning.

ICE agents spent their time loading boxes of seized material into large trucks. A small crowd of people stood near the pawn shop to watch, but the area around the business was closed off with yellow crime tape.

Witnesses told KFOX14 they saw U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arresting employees of the Genva Loan and Jewelry Company business at 222 South El Paso Street.

ICE officials said the arrest were in connection to an ammunition smuggling case.

Officials with the U.S. Attorney's Office stated in an indictment released Wednesday afternoon, from July 1, 2010 to July 27, 2011, that Bryan Nelson Schonberg, manager of the pawn shop, and five of his employees conspired to smuggle ammunition from the U.S. to Mexico.

KFOX14 crews went to Schonberg's westside home and briefly spoke with a housekeeper who said she had heard the news.

All six arrested sold large quantities of assault-caliber ammunition and ammunition magazines, or ammunition storage devices attached to a firearm, to undercover agents, the indictment stated. They had knowledge that the undercover agents were planing to smuggle the ammo from the U.S. to Mexico.

Witnesses also said items were being taken out of the store. Authorities said they seized about 34,500 rounds of ammunition and more than 180 large magazines for AK-47 and AR-15 type firearms.

The other five employees arrested during Wednesday's raid were Jaime Rangel, Guadalupe Gallegos, Cirilio Soriano, Elataria Pedroza and Raquel Galvan.

All six arrested, except Pedroza, were charged with one count of conspiracy to smuggle ammunition from the United States; one aiding and abetting ammunition smuggling count; one count of conspiracy to smuggle high capacity firearms magazines; one aiding and abetting high capacity firearms magazine smuggling count; and, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Pedroza was charged with one count of conspiracy to smuggle ammunition from the United States and one aiding and abetting ammunition smuggling count.

If convicted, each person arrested faces up to 20 years in federal prison.

http://www.kfoxtv.com/news/28753219/detail.html

ICE agents confiscate 34,500 rounds from Downtown pawn shop

By Aaron Bracamontes \ EL PASO TIMES
Posted: 08/04/2011 12:00:00 AM MDT

A regular, quiet Downtown El Paso morning turned not so normal quickly Wednesday.

At least 34,500 rounds of assault-caliber ammunition were seized by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents as part of an undercover ammunition smuggling investigation, resulting in a raid on a Downtown pawn shop.

Federal authorities say the seizure is expected to be the largest in El Paso's history -- once agents sort through the evidence.

The owner of Geneva Loan and Jewelry Co., 222 S. El Paso on the corner of Overland and El Paso streets, and five employees allegedly sold and repackaged all 34,500 rounds, along with 180 large-capacity magazines, to undercover ICE agents, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Texas.

The repackaging was designed to make the rounds easier to smuggle across the border.

Around 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, ICE agents executing arrests and federal search warrants converged on the pawn shop.

Witnesses said agents quickly approached the pawn shop from several directions.

Agents led the store's occupants out in handcuffs, right before large moving trucks pulled up.

Shop manager Bryan Nelson Schonberg, 60, and five employees were arrested on suspicion of running an ammunition smuggling operation, according to a media release. Those employees were Jaime Rangel, 40; Guadalupe Gallegos, 47; Cirilio Soriano, 47; Elataria Pedroza, 56; and Raquel Galvan, 47.
A message left by the El Paso Times at Schonberg's home was not returned.

Schonberg, Rangel, Gallegos, Soriano and Galvan are being charged with conspiracy to smuggle ammunition from the United States, aiding and abetting ammunition smuggling, conspiracy to smuggle high-capacity firearms magazines, aiding and abetting high-capacity firearms magazines smuggling and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Pedroza was charged with conspiracy to smuggle ammunition from the United States and aiding and abetting ammunition smuggling.

The federal indictments allege Schonberg and his employees "sold large quantities of ammunition and large quantities of ammunition magazines to undercover agents" during the course of the investigation.

The indictments also said "the defendants, knowing that the goods would be smuggled into Mexico, allegedly repacked the ammunition from its original factory rigid cardboard boxes into taped bundles or plastic bags to make it easier to conceal from authorities."

Agents spent several hours inside the store and were also seen loading boxes marked with the word "evidence" into two large storage trucks. The total amount of ammunition in the store was not known Wednesday.

Judy Yuridia, manager of Yuri's Quinceañera that is located next door, said she was surprised to hear about the arrests.

"I knew that he sold ammunition there, but everything seemed alright," she said. "It seemed legal."

Yuridia did not see the arrests happen because she arrived to work 30 minutes after the ICE agents' raid.

Other shop owners "told me they arrested each of the individuals that work there," Yuridia said. "The owner of this building worked there. So he is my landlord."

Last week, Mexican authorities arrested an El Paso woman for trying to smuggle 3,500 rounds of ammunition across the Santa Fe Street bridge.

On Tuesday, Mexican officials announced that Gwendolyn Marrufo Sanchez was arrested over the weekend.

She was stopped during a routine check by the Mexican army of a cross-border bus entering from El Paso.

The woman is a U.S. citizen and an El Paso resident.

Officials found 50 boxes of AK-47 bullets, 20 boxes of .9-millimeter bullets, 20 boxes of .30-millimeter bullets and .38-caliber bullets.

"We don't know where the ammunition came from. All that is under investigation," said Angel Torres Valadez, a spokesman for the Mexico Attorney General's office or PGR.

Torres said such large seizures of ammunition are not very common but authorities are keeping a watch out for smuggling.

"It's a very serious case because it (the ammunition) is the type for the exclusive use of the military" under Mexican law, Torres said.

Aaron Bracamontes may be reached at abracamontes@elpasotimes.com; 546-6156.

Times reporter Daniel Borunda contributed to this story.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_18612589

Witnesses also said items were being taken out of the store. Authorities said they seized about 34,500 rounds of ammunition and more than 180 large magazines for AK-47 and AR-15 type firearms.

The other five employees arrested during Wednesday's raid were Jaime Rangel, Guadalupe Gallegos, Cirilio Soriano, Elataria Pedroza and Raquel Galvan.

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WHERE is Janet Napolitano?

Something BIG is in the wind, and it sure isn't rain or cooler temperatures.

I.C.E. News Release

August 4, 2011
El Paso, TX

ICE arrests pawn shop manager, 5 employees in ammo smuggling case

Homeland Security Investigations agents seized about 34,500 rounds of ammo for assault rifles

EL PASO, Texas - A local pawn shop manager and five other employees were arrested on Wednesday on federal ammunition-smuggling charges by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

ICE HSI special agents arrested all six of the following targeted individuals: Bryan Nelson Schonberg, 60, manager of Geneva Loan and Jewelry Co.; Jaime Rangel, 40; Guadalupe Gallegos, 47; Cirilio Soriano, 47; Elataria Pedroza, 57; and Raquel Galvan, 47. They are scheduled to have their initial hearing Aug. 4 in federal court.

All of the defendants, except Pedroza, are charged with the following crimes: conspiracy to smuggle ammunition from the United States, aiding and abetting ammunition smuggling, conspiracy to smuggle high-capacity firearms magazines, aiding and abetting high-capacity firearms magazine smuggling, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Pedroza is charged with conspiracy to smuggle ammunition from the United States, and aiding and abetting ammunition smuggling.

They are all named in a five-count federal grand jury indictment returned July 27. The indictment alleges that from July 1, 2010 until July 27, 2011 the defendants conspired to smuggle ammunition from the United States into Mexico. According to the indictment, the scheme involved selling large quantities of ammunition and large-capacity ammunition magazines to ICE HSI undercover agents.

Further, the defendants, knowing that the goods would be smuggled into Mexico, allegedly repackaged the ammunition from its original factory-rigid cardboard boxes into taped bundles or plastic bags to make it easier to conceal from authorities.

During the yearlong investigation, federal agents seized about 34,500 rounds of assault-caliber ammunition and more than 180 large-capacity magazines for AK-47- and AR-15-type firearms.

If convicted, the defendants face the following possible sentences: a maximum of 20 years in federal prison on the money-laundering conspiracy charge, up to 10 years in federal prison per smuggling charge, and, up to five years in federal prison per smuggling-conspiracy charge.

An indictment is merely a charge and should not be considered as evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security.

ICE is a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities. For more information, visit www.ICE.gov. To report suspicious activity, call 1-866-347-2423.

U.S. Dept of Homeland Security

http://www.ice.gov/news/releases/1108/110804elpaso.htm