Federal prosecutors in Amarillo are seeking forfeiture of a sprawling arsenal of firearms, including at least one machine gun and a Thompson rifle, in a case they say was built to arm the Sinaloa Cartel. A U.S. district judge has already ordered one of the four defendants held without bond, finding him a serious flight risk and a danger to the community.
According to abc7amarillo.com, federal prosecutors identified 169 firearms they are seeking to forfeit in the case, describing a mix of handguns, revolvers, rifles, several military-style weapons and older surplus firearms, along with ammunition, magazines and accessories. But a bill of particulars filed in U.S. District Court lists a total of 170 seized firearms, each individually described, according to newschannel10.com. The available reports give different totals.
The government's list, filed September 14, begins with an Auto-Ordnance Thompson 1927 A-1 rifle along with Glock and Sig Sauer pistols, and includes rifles made by Colt, Ruger, Winchester, Enfield, Mauser and Mosin-Nagant, the outlet's report notes. Among the more striking entries are machine guns, with newschannel10.com reporting that several of the listed firearms, including one of them, carry no serial number at all.
Four Defendants, a June Indictment
A federal grand jury indicted Loyd Walter Hall, Jesus Quezada Meza, Omar Velasquez and Catlynn Ann Townsend on June 25 on charges that include conspiracy to traffic firearms and conspiracy to make straw purchases of firearms, per the same abc7amarillo.com report. Prosecutors allege the four bought guns in Amarillo intending to have them smuggled into Mexico for the Sinaloa Cartel. The alleged conspiracy also involved fentanyl, cocaine and heroin.
Hall is charged in all 12 counts of the indictment, including providing material support to a designated terrorist organization, making him central to the alleged conspiracy, according to newschannel10.com. Beyond the guns themselves, prosecutors are also seeking forfeiture of firearms-sales records, including ATF forms and acquisition-and-disposition books, the outlet's earlier report on the case adds.
Judge Cites Border Crossings, Vehicle Swaps
U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk ordered Velasquez held without bond pending trial, finding that he presented a serious flight risk and a danger to the community, the station's report states. Kacsmaryk's order overturned an earlier release order from a California magistrate judge.
Prosecutors presented evidence that Velasquez played an integral role in the cartel's alleged international weapons-smuggling operation. The government alleged Velasquez made at least 27 inbound crossings from Mexico into the United States between January 2025 and March 2026, using at least nine different vehicles to do so, while having few ties to the Amarillo area, the outlet reports. Velasquez reportedly did not oppose the government's detention request when it was made in August. Messages recovered from a phone seized during a raid discussed trafficking firearms across the border, shootouts, explosives and methods of concealing contraband, according to the same account.
Part of a Broader Pattern Along the Border
The Amarillo case reflects a pattern described elsewhere in Texas, where prosecutors have alleged firearms were purchased from local pawn shops under false pretenses before being trafficked south, according to amarillotribune.org. A 2024 case out of Laredo carried similar allegations, with federal prosecutors there charging that firearms were straw-purchased and smuggled across the border to drug cartels, as reported by the Texas Tribune. In that Laredo case, Gerardo Rafael Perez Jr. allegedly coordinated the purchase of more than 100 firearms, including FNH SCAR rifles, Barrett .50 caliber rifles and M1919 rifles, intended for transport to Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. The Justice Department has said it has prosecuted more than 300 defendants under the federal firearms-trafficking law created by the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, with the newer straw-purchase and trafficking offenses each carrying maximum sentences of 15 years in prison, per the Texas Tribune's reporting.
The Amarillo case remains at the pretrial stage. Hall, Quezada Meza, Velasquez and Townsend face the pending federal charges, and the available court record does not establish a final disposition for any of the four defendants.
