Gun used in kidnappings of four Americans linked to Texas man

[Judi Lynn]

By NBC News Channel
Published: Mar. 21, 2023 at 10:11 AM CDT|Updated: 17 hours ago

MATAMOROS, MX. (NBC) - A gun used in the killing of kidnapped Americans in Mexico earlier this month has been linked to a Texas man.

The four kidnapped Americans were found in a wooden house in Matamoros.

Two had been killed, the other two were rescued.

According to federal court documents, an AR-15 rifle used in the killings was originally bought by Roberto Lugardo Moreno of Texas.

The criminal complaint states that Moreno admitted to purchasing the gun and other firearms for people he knew were going to provide them to a Mexican cartel member.

Moreno is being held without bond.

https://www.kgns.tv/2023/03/21/gun-used-kidnappings-four-americans-linked-texas-man/

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Automatic rifle used by Mexican cartel who killed two kidnapped Americans after group crossed the border for a Brazilian butt lift was bought in the United States in 2019 - by a Texas man who was paid just $100

Roberto Lugardo-Moreno was arrested by federal agents in Texas on Friday

He confessed that on October 2019 he purchased several weapons, including a Diamondback DB-15 multi-caliber AR style pistol, for the Gulf Cartel

The firearm was used by cartel members in the shooting of three of the four Americans who were kidnapped and killed March 3

By ADRY TORRES FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

PUBLISHED: 15:05 EDT, 21 March 2023 | UPDATED: 17:06 EDT, 21 March 2023

A Texas man is under arrest for allegedly purchasing the weapon that was used by a Mexican cartel in the kidnapping of four Americans, including two who were murdered earlier this month.

Roberto Lugardo-Moreno is accused by the United States government of conspiring to illegally export a firearm, according to a Southern District of Texas court document that was filed Saturday.

The firearm in question, a Diamondback DB-15 multi-caliber AR style pistol, was recovered by Mexican authorities in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, following the abduction of the South Carolina residents on March 3.

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Members (pictured) of the Gulf Cartel's Scorpions Group were abandoned on a Matamoros street and accused by the criminal organization of being behind last Friday's kidnapping of four Americans, including two who were killed. A Mexican woman was also shot dead during the incident

. . .

Security forces rescued McGee and James, who had a gunshot wound, from a cartel storage shed located six miles away in the town of El Tecolote on March 7. Woodard and Brown were found dead inside the shack.

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) office in Harlingen, Texas, was alerted by law enforcement in Mexico on March 14 that the weapon used in the crime has been purchased in the U.S. and dispatched agents who detained Lugardo-Moreno on Sunday.

More:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11886279/Weapon-used-Mexican-cartel-abduction-four-Americans-bought-Texas-man-paid-100.html

[AndyS]

1. This is why Mexico has two law suits filed against the gun industry in

the United States. One is against the manufacturers for failing to control their supply chain and monitor their dealer's marketing. The suit contends that the manufacturers know that their product is being re-directed into Mexico. That lawsuit was dismissed but is now under appeal because of this case.

The other is against a handful of dealers along the border in Texas and New Mexico for selling to what they know or should know are straw buyers providing guns into Mexico.

Other Southern countries are considering joining the suits.

The US gun industry is why you can't enjoy an inexpensive luxury vacation in a tropical country where English is spoken and US currency is readily accepted.