New Mexico Teen Faces Decades In Prison After Attempting To Sell Cocaine And An Automatic Firearm To An Undercover Officer

A New Mexico teen faces decades in prison after being caught trying to sell cocaine and an automatic firearm to an undercover police officer.

The teen in question is Gerald Anthony Lopez, who in February tried to make the sell to the officer. According to Border Report, he displayed a firearm with an extended magazine and a machine gun conversion device. He also offered additional firearms and drugs, court documents show.

Lopez eventually completed the purchase and again encountered law enforcement in May. Back then, he drove up to a checkpoint in New Mexico. Along with other two people he identified himself as a U.S. citizen, but a Border Patrol agent noticed a smell of marijuana and sent the car to a secondary inspection area so a dog would sniff the vehicle.

The car then accelerated, seeking to leave the checkpoint behind. Lopez was then arrested. He now faces drug offenses and possession of a firearm, as well as attempting to escape authorities. He now faces up to 25 years in prison for the combined charges.

Earlier this month three Texas men were arrested for allegedly buying assault rifles and taking them across the border to Mexican cartels.

The apprehensions, authorities said, are part of a wider investigation involving at least three federal agencies: Bureau of Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI.

There is abundant evidence about the flow of weapons bought legally in the U.S. to Mexico. The latter's Defense Secretariat said last month it had located 11 gun smuggling routes from the U.S. to Mexico.

In a report, the entity said it was able to spot the routes as a result of cooperation with the General Prosecutor's Office, and that most of them are used by criminal organizations. Overall, authorities were able to seize almost 6,000 guns between November 2024 and May this year.

The document adds that 43% of the guns seized come from Texas. An additional 22% come from Arizona and 9% from California.