On Monday, Alejandro Valles, of Aguila, Arizona, was sentenced to 15 months in prison for smuggling weapons from the United States into Mexico. David Alberto Duarte-Marquez, 21, a Mexican citizen and Valles’ co-conspirator, was to 33 months in prison. Both men pleaded guilty to their offenses.
On October 22, 2018, Valles placed an online order for an M203 40mm grenade launcher barrel. Valles received the barrel and sent the package to another individual in southern Arizona, who then smuggled the barrel into Mexico.
Similarly, on November 26, 2018, Valles’ co-conspirator Duarte-Marquez placed an online order for an M203 40mm grenade launcher barrel with the intent to smuggle it into Mexico. Duarte-Marquez had the barrel shipped to Valles. Once Valles received the barrel, he intended to follow the same steps of sending the package to southern Arizona so it could be smuggled into Mexico. However, the second barrel was intercepted by law enforcement while it was en route to Valles.