A Houston gun dealer has pleaded guilty to a federal firearms violation, capping off a saga of illegal gun sales that funneled high-powered weaponry into illicit markets. According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Nicah Anderson, the former Cypress resident and NE Guns operator, was involved between December 2022 and March 2023 in assisting straw purchasers to acquire at least 41 firearms, which were quickly resold, some to Mexican drug cartels.

In a firearm trafficking investigation, it has been uncovered that Anderson's operation enabled the siphoning of military-grade weapons, including the likes of Barret .50 caliber sniper rifles and FN SCAR 17S rifles, into channels that were never meant to be accessed by civilians. Allegedly, Anderson was to surely have known about these transactions — a heavy implication given the firepower involved and the violence these tools can unleash. The illicit trade funneled $115,000 into NE Guns from the straw purchases, as detailed by federal prosecutors.

A search executed on July 19, 2023, yielded a cache of 266 firearms, over 138,000 rounds of ammunition, and seven silencers from NE Guns. U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani, in a statement obtained by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, underscored the gravity of the situation, stating, "Weapons of war, including a .50 caliber gun, walked out of Nicah Anderson’s gun store in the arms of straw purchasers, and he knew it."

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), which spearheaded the investigation, noted through its Special Agent in Charge Michael Weddel that "This defendant chose profit over helping to maintain the safety of the general public and will be held accountable for those repeated decisions." Anderson has agreed, as part of his plea, to serve two years in prison, although he will remain on bond until his sentencing on October 24, according to details from a U.S. Attorney’s Office release.