Alleged Firearms Trafficker Extradited to Mexico

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FRESNO, Calif. — U.S. Attorney BenjaminB. Wagner announced today that Gregorio Salgado Lopez, 34, of Madera, wasextradited to Mexico on June 12, 2012, where he is wanted to stand trial forthe alleged illegal possession of firearms without a license while in Mexicoand the clandestine introduction of firearms into Mexico.
According to the extradition requestsubmitted by Mexico and court documents, on March 22, 2009, shortly before 6:00p.m., a bus traveling from Tijuana, Baja California, to Santiago Juxtlahuaca,Oaxaca, arrived at the inspection station in the town of Sonoyta, Sonora,Mexico. The passengers were required to get off the bus with their luggage andpresent themselves for random inspection in the inspection station. Theinspectors reported that one of the passengers whose luggage was randomly chosenfor inspection presented documents identifying himself as Gregorio SalgadoLopez. He also presented five luggage claim tickets that matched the claim tagson four cardboard boxes and a suitcase. Inside the boxes, the inspectorsdiscovered disassembled pieces of rifles, some wrapped in aluminum foil andhidden under clothes. Re-assembled later in the Office of the Federal PublicProsecutor, the pieces equaled 55 Ruger brand .22–caliber rifles. The FederalPublic Prosecutor also made a record of the unique serial number on each of therifles.
According to documents filed with thecourt, on March 24, 2009, Salgado Lopez gave a deposition to the Federal PublicProsecutor of the State of Sonora, in which he claimed that strangers gave himthe boxes in Tijuana, said that the boxes contained tools, and asked him if hewould take the “tools” with him. They offered to pay him 30,000 Mexican pesos,so he agreed. Salgado Lopez also admitted that he did not have the necessarylicense to possess firearms in Mexico. He could not remember the people whopurportedly offered him money to carry the boxes to Oaxaca. However, accordingto records maintained by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms andExplosives, Salgado Lopez illegally purchased some of the firearms in MaderaCounty, California.
The United States Marshals Servicearrested Salgado Lopez in Madera County in November 2011. On June 1, 2012,following court proceedings in U.S. District Court in Fresno, the court orderedhis extradition to Mexico. Salgado Lopez was extradited to Mexico on June 12,2012.
Salgado Lopez is an unindictedco–conspirator in a firearms trafficking case pending in U.S. District Court:United States v. Ernesto Salgado–Guzman, et al., 1:11–CR–00376 AWI, which isscheduled for a status conference before U.S. Magistrate Judge Dennis L. Beckon July 23, 2012. According to court documents, the defendants in that caseallegedly purchased firearms in Madera that were then sold in Oaxaca, Mexico.Firearms in Gregorio Salgado Lopez’s possession were traced to the defendantsin the case.
“Continued cooperation with Mexican lawenforcement agencies to improve public safety in both countries has been apriority for the U.S. Department of Justice,” said United States AttorneyWagner. “This case exemplifies that kind of cooperation.”
Salgado Lopez is the third defendantextradited to Mexico from the Eastern District of California in the last sixweeks. On April 27, 2012, U.S. Attorney Wagner announced the extradition ofEmilio Osornio Valdovinos, 55, of Michoacán, who was wanted to stand trial foran alleged killing in Michoacán in 2005. On May 10, 2012, the U.S. Attorneyannounced the extradition of Raul Mejia Vazquez, 73, of Morelia, who was wantedto stand trial for the alleged killing of his brother in 2009, also inMichoacán.
The Salgado Lopez extradition is theproduct of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms andExplosives, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) HomelandSecurity Investigations (HSI), and the U.S. Marshals Service. Assistant U.S.Attorneys Ian Garriques and Kimberly Sanchez prosecuted the case. The Office ofInternational Affairs in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division providedinvaluable assistance.