U.S. and Argentine Seize Arms Targeting Mainly Brazil

On June 28, 2019, Matthew T. Albence, deputy director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Anthony Salisbury, special agent in charge of ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations, (HSI) Miami, announced the results of international operation targeting weapons traffickers, mainly directed at criminal organizations in Brazil. The operation resulted in a total of 25 arrests and 53 search warrants executed in the U.S., Argentina, and Brazil.  Over the course of the operation, law enforcement seized 5,300 firearms and components, 167 explosive/ordinances, and 15 silencers from the transnational criminal organizations (TCOs). HSI Miami started the investigation into the TCO smuggling large amounts of weapons parts and accessories from the U.S. to Argentina and Brazil.  The TCO exploited the U.S. Postal Service by illegally exporting weapon parts and ammunition regulated by the International Trafficking in Arms Regulations without the proper State Department licenses.  During the investigation several HSI offices, as well as Argentinian and Brazilian authorities, have conducted multiple search warrants and arrests resulting in the seizure of significant quantities of firearms, firearms parts, and more than $100,000 cash.